True Love Takes Time
by scribblesofdreams
Summary: After Bradin's several girlfriends and O.D., he hopes a relationship with a girl from Hawaii pushes him to make some changes. But not everything goes as smoothly as he'd like it to. Only through hard work and time can one achieve true love.
1. Introduction

Introduction

Disclaimer: Just so you know, I do not own any thing having to do with Summerland. Nor do I own any references I make to already established things (ie: stores, movies, games, songs, people, brands, etc.).

Okay, so this is how my story is being picked up in relation to the actual show:

It starts a couple of weeks after Bradin and Erika are no longer together.

Bradin and Jay don't end up going to Hawaii. Instead Bradin is banned from surfing on his surf team until his Aunt Ava and his coach both agree to let him back on the team. Until then he's still allowed to go to their practices and meets, but he's not able to surf.

Johnny, Simon and Erika aren't in this fic…at all. Maybe they're mentioned, but they don't 'physically' show up.

I'm not sure what their high school is called, so I'm just calling it Playa Linda High School, 'cause that's all I can come up with.

The main/new character is Sam Kupihea. She's a new student from Hawaii who ends up going to Bradin's school. She's a surfer, guys think she's cute, and well…you can probably figure out the rest. But still, read through it and tell me if you think it's decent. Thanks.

- I might use some slang words and things like that in the fic that you might not be familiar with, so check the bottom of the page to see what I'm talking about. I'll give you a brief explanation of what I'm trying to say.

-There are words that are spelled differently, but you can basically tell what it is. That's because I'm trying to spell it the way that the characters would say it.

-Some words are Pidgin; meaning the local slang used in Hawaii. I'll tell you if it's Pidgin, what it means, and the way it can be used.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Friday morning. The only way to start off your weekend was to hit the waves. Or at least that's what Sam always believed in. She had spent the entire week helping her dad unpack all their things into their new house. For four days she cleaned out, wiped down, vacuumed, swept, and dusted out what seemed to be the entire house. She and her dad, Maka, had just moved to Playa Linda from Hawaii. And for Sam, four days without surfing was torture.

"Hey dad!" Sam yelled from her room. She gathered up her towel, sunscreen and sunglasses and rushed out her door. She dodged the remaining boxes in the hallway as she headed down stairs to the kitchen.

Her dad looked up from the toaster. "Morning Sam." He smiled.

"Dad, I'm headin' out okay." She told him. Sam put her things in her backpack that was on the counter in the kitchen.

Maka turned around and followed her to the refrigerator. "You have lunch?" He asked her.

She nodded and pulled out some fruits, two water bottles and a can of juice. Then she went back to the counter and sat down. "Yep, my fruits, juice and water. And my bento." She said and put them all into her backpack.

"You get your phone?" He asked her.

"Yep, right here." She took her phone out of her pocket and set it on the counter. Her dad wanted her to have a cell phone just in case she needed to get in touch with him. Her old school in Hawaii was very far from her house, so if anything happened, Sam could contact her dad. "Can I go now dad?" She asked like a small child wanting to go out to play.

Her dad crossed his arms over his chest. "You know I am letting you go surf, without checkin' the waters out myself. So that means you bettah be extra careful, you hear me?" He said sternly. "That means no high makamaka out there." He looked at Sam.

"I know dad." She rolled her eyes.

"I mean it Sam. This if your first time out in these waters, and you don't want a bad rep. already do you?" She shook her head. "And you don't wanna do somethin' you'll regret later would you?"

"No dad." She answered in an annoyed voice.

He raised his head. "Okay, well, you bettah be careful out there." He said and kissed her head. "Okay, off you go."

Sam got up and put her backpack on. "Thanks dad. I'll be back by 6 at the latest." She went out the back door and grabbed her surf board. She looked back into the house to wave goodbye to her dad and headed down a small stairway which lead out to the beach.

She found a spot on the beach that seemed to be of some potential. There weren't many people out, since most of the kids were still in school. What surfers that were out there seemed to be catching some decent waves. So she put her things down in an area she can always look to, and a place where people wouldn't take her things. She covered her body with sunscreen, just to be sure, since she didn't wear a wetsuit, and she wasn't going to put her rashguard on yet. Sam walked towards the shore line and stopped to look at the ocean.

"Well Sam," She said to herself. "This is it. This is your new home." She gazed across the horizon, only to remember that her real home was somewhere out there. She closed her eyes, and with a deep breath she started paddling out into the water. In no time she was up, catching waves like she's lived there her whole life.

When she got out of the water to have her lunch, several other surfers came up to her to comment on her surfing. A few even admitted that they were surprised to see a girl surfing out in the water. Sam was happy that local surfers thought she was a decent surfer and that they weren't as territorial as she thought they'd be. While she rested on the beach, she watched the other surfers that were out in the water. She looked around to see what kinds of people were hanging out at the beach. She saw basically older guys that probably surfed everyday. There were a few families with their children there, having lunch and building sand castles. It was getting later in the day, and hotter as well. So she decided to put on her rashguard so she wouldn't get major sun burn. As she stood up, she heard the faint sound of her cell phone coming from her bag.

"Hey dad." She said, knowing it was him from her caller ID. "What's up?"

She waited for his answer. "Nothin' much. Just unpacking a few things. How's the surf out there?" He asked curiously.

Turning from side to side she answered. "Pretty good. Not as good as Waimea, but decent." She smirked.

"Eh, that's awesome. One of these days we'll both hit them waves." He told her. "Hey, it's getting hot out, you wearin' your rashguard?" He asked in a fatherly tone.

"Yes dad." She said.

"Okay. Well, I'll let you get back to them waves." He said. "See you at home."

"Okay. Latah dad." She said goodbye and hung up the phone. She put her phone back into her bag and cleaned up her area. She grabbed her surfboard and headed back out into the water. She spent 2 hours hanging out in the water, trying to catch some decent waves. She noticed that a group of people started to gather on the sand. She could tell that it was a school function since they had their school's name on a tent that they set up. She saw a man that looked like the surf coach talking to a group of boys under the tent. She figured it was their daily practice, but went along with her own business.

"Okay guys, let's head out." Coach Bedolla told the boys. Five boys started running out to the water while the others hung around the area.

"Hey Coach, there's some other guys out there. We still can practice right?" Sean asked.

Coach Bedolla looked at Sean and lowered his sunglasses. "Sean, we don't own the beach. Anyone can surf out here." He said to him. He pushed his glasses higher on his nose. "They're just not all as good as we are." He smirked as the boys chuckled.

"Man, I so wanna get out there again." Bradin said sitting down next to Sean.

"Hey, don't get any ideas Westerly." Coach Bedolla said to him. "You're still on probation, don't forget that." He said pointing at him with a stern finger.

"I'm not Coach." Bradin said, resting his arms on his knees.

Tracy moved to stand next to Bradin. "Don't worry Coach, I don't think Bradin's that dumb to do something stupid again. I think." He smiled.

"Haha, very funny." Bradin commented as both brothers laughed.

They all watched the five boys surf for a few minutes. Two of them caught decent waves right off the back. But the other three waited a while until they started riding. Not too long after that, Lucas noticed there was another surfer riding near their schools team. He stopped to try and see who it was.

"Hey, can you tell who that is?" Lucas asked another team mate.

Daniel squinted his eyes at the incoming surfer that was paddling towards them. "Nope, no one from our school." He said.

Lucas continued to watch this person as the other boys went on practicing. Lucas watched this surfer catch four really good waves, one after the other. He was amazed at how he didn't know who this person was. Coach Bedolla noticed that Lucas wasn't practicing at all and started to walk towards the water.

"Lucas!" He yelled. "Get moving' man, or I'm sending someone out in your place!" His voice somewhat drowned out by the sound of the ocean. Lucas could tell that his coach was mad, and decided to start practicing.

Sam paddled out again, watching the surfers on the surf team as she went by. She sat up on her surfboard when she reached a couple of the guys. "Hey." She said in a friendly voice.

"Hey." They replied, not sure of how to answer her.

Sam looked at the two boys. "I'm Sam, I'm new around here." She smiled. "Are you on a surf team or somethin'?" She asked, trying to speak over the faint sound of the crashing waves.

"Yeah. We're with our school's surf team, Playa Linda High." Daniel answered her.

She smiled and nodded her head. "Awesome. We never had a surf team at my old school." The three of them stopped to watch Lucas as he caught a wave. He was riding in a barrel that was about to cave in. He panicked and fell off his board.

"Ouch." Bradin said from shore. Sean nodded his head in agreement.

Lucas swam to his board and paddled out to where Daniel and Sam were. "Man, I totally ate it." He said shaking his head.

"Dude, you better just hope Coach didn't see that." Daniel mentioned.

Lucas looked back to the coach. And sure enough the coach was shaking his head and shouting out something that Lucas couldn't hear, but could tell it was bad. "Yeah, I think he saw me. Damn, and I've ridden barrels before." He said whacking his board.

"Don't worry man." Sam looked at him. "The next time, get into your position fast, but then lean forward so your weight pulls you through the wave." She suggested with a smile.

Lucas was startled that this girl was giving him tips on how to surf. "Um…" He said, not sure how to respond.

"Here, I'll show you." She said and started drifting away from the group of boys. They all looked at each other and shrugged, not sure of what to think of her. Sam looked over her shoulder and let a set of waves go by. When the right one came, she started paddling until the waved picked her up. She stood up and could tell the wave was already forming. She steadied her feet and started to lean forward on her board. She made it out of the barrel just in time before it collapsed.

"Wow." Lucas said. Sam paddled back out to the group and sat up on her board.

"Like that." She smiled cheerfully.

Lucas and the other guys looked at each other without anything to say. "That was pretty good." Daniel admitted. "Hey, how'd you know it'd be a barrel though?" He asked, remembering she waited for the right set before she paddled with the wave.

Sam grinned. "It's somethin' I've picked up." She replied.

"I think I'll try it." Lucas commented, as if he was a child experimenting a new toy. He paddled away from the group and instantly caught a good wave. The barrel started to form and Lucas did exactly what Sam told him. Once he got up he started to lean forward to pull his weight down. He made it out of the barrel long before it closed and was able to snap back and ride on top of the crest of the wave.

Lucas paddled back to Sam and sat up on his board. "That worked!" He smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem." She said. Sam looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was slowly going down. "Well, maybe I'll see you guys later." She told them and started to paddle back to shore.

Tracy tapped Coach Bedolla's shoulder. "Hey Coach, did you see that?" He asked.

"Lucas?" He asked. "That was Lucas right?" He asked for reassurance.

"Sure was." Bradin agreed.

Sean stood up. "Yeah, that girl helped Lucas ride through a barrel." He said. The coach took off his glasses and looked out to the water.

"What girl?" He asked, somewhat surprised that a girl helped Lucas.

"That girl." Tracy pointed to Sam slowly paddling in.

They all watched her come back into shore. She waited for the right wave to take back in, and soon enough she was picked up by one. She stood up and caught her balance on her board. She kept her knees bent and started to turn towards her right. She snapped her board to the left as she got to the edge of the wave and did a 360 turn. The coach and all the boys were shocked to see her do that.

"Holy crap!" Sean exclaimed.

"Whoa!" The boys cheered from the water.

Coach Bedolla put his clip board down. "Now that was awesome." He smiled. He waved for the five boys to come back to shore as he watched Sam reach the sand. She walked back to her things and wiped her board off.

"I think we might just have a new surfer on our team boys." He said patting Sean on the shoulder as he started walking towards Sam.

The boys looked at each other with surprised and confused looks on their faces. "A girl?" Tracy asked. "I don't want her on our team. Besides, she doesn't even wear the right stuff. She wears a rashguard, not a wetsuit." He turned to look at her. Sam finished drying off her board and took her rashguard off. She was wearing a purple flower patterned halter swim suit top with darker purple surf shorts.

"Man, I'd rather have her not wear a wetsuit or rashguard, if you know what I mean." Sean commented as the other boys laughed. "Yeah, I'd rather not have her wear anything to hide that beautiful swim suit." He grinned.

Lucas walked up to them and set his board down on the sand. "What's coach doing?" He asked them.

"I think he's gonna ask her to be on the team." Bradin said, standing up. He looked towards Sam with a hopeful look on his face.

"Really?" Lucas asked.

"That's what I said man." Tracy added. "But now, I'm lookin' at her in a different way." He smirked as the other boys chuckled softly.

Sean lightly slapped Lucas' shoulder. "So what was that out there?" He asked. "Did she like, help you out?"

Lucas turned to Sean. "Yeah, she did. Surprisingly." He told them. Bradin looked at Sam, wondering what kind of girl could surf that well.

Sam was drying off her hair with her towel when Coach Bedolla came up to her. "Hi." He said politely.

"Hi." Sam answered, hesitant to speak to him.

"I'm Coach Bedolla, I coach the school's surf team." He introduced himself and stuck out his hand.

Sam shook his hand awkwardly. "Hi." She repeated. "I'm Sam. Sam Kupihea."

"I don't think I've ever seen you at school, or here at the beach." He said.

"I just moved here." She responded. "Today was my first time out in the water." She told him.

He nodded his head. "Well you're quite a surfer." He complimented.

Sam smiled. "Thanks, I've been surfing for a while."

"Well, I was wondering." He paused. "Are you enrolled in school yet?" he asked her.

"Yeah, I start on Monday."

Coach Bedolla smiled. "Well then." He said. "I'd like to ask you if you'd like a spot on my surf team." He asked her.

Sam took a moment to think about what he just said. "Wait, you want me to be on your team?" She asked for reassurance.

He nodded. "Yes. I just saw you catch that last wave in." He told her. "And some of my boys took weeks to be able to do that. I think you could really be of some help on our team."

Sam looked over his shoulder. "You mean I'd be on a team with those boys?" She asked, scanning the group of boys looking her way.

"Yep, those boys." Coach Bedolla turned around to see them all staring their way.

"I think I might be interested in surfing with them." She said as they both smiled and laughed.

"So is that a yes?" He asked her.

Sam bit her lip and smiled. "Well, I'd have to ask my dad." She told him. "But I'm sure he'd say okay."

Coach Bedolla smiled. "Excellent. Well, if he says you can, then do you think you could come to our practice tomorrow morning? Be here about 8:30?" He asked her.

"Sure." She agreed.

"Great. Then I'll see you tomorrow."

Sam nodded. "Okay." They shook hands one last time and Coach Bedolla started to walk back towards his team. Sam put her rashguard in her bag and put on her tank top.

As Coach Bedolla got closer to the group of boys, he smiled and nodded his head. "Looks like you boys have a new member of this team." He told them. The other boys were shocked to hear their coach say that, but eventually trailed off and got their things together to leave. Sam picked up her board and put her backpack on. She turned back once more to look at the team and smiled. Bradin stood watching Sam walk away, not able to look away.

"Aw man, I know that look." Lucas said stepping in front of Bradin.

"What?" Bradin asked.

Lucas shook his head. "Don't act like you don't know what I'm talkin' about."

"Lucas."

"Nuh-uh, not this time. You just got over the Callie and Erika thing. And you're still suspended from surfing, so don't you go chasing after any girls." He crossed his arms over his chest.

Bradin looked at Lucas. "C'mon Lucas, I was just lookin'." He smiled.

"Well stop lookin'." Lucas said to him. "You better just focus on school, and changing your routine you have with women. Or else you're never gonna surf or date again." He warned.

"C'mon man. I don't even know her." He told his friend.

"Mmhmm, that's what you always say." Lucas said, walking back to his board. Bradin took one last look in Sam's direction and a small smile crept across his face.

"Hey dad." Sam said as she came down stairs. "Need some help?" She offered. She set the table and helped take some of the food to the table. They both sat down and Sam said a prayer.

"So, how was today?" Her dad asked curiously. "How was it out there?"

Sam nodded. "It was pretty good. Got a few good waves." She told him. "You shouldah been there." She smiled.

"I know. But I'll get out there soon." He told her.

Sam ate her food slowly, not quite sure when to ask her dad about the surf team. "Um, dad." She said, setting her fork down on her plate. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." He said, wiping his mouth and setting his hands on the table.

Sam sat up straight in her chair. "Okay. I know we just got here, and I didn't even start school yet. But," She paused, already seeing her dad raise his eyebrows. "I was wondering if I could join the school's surf team." She finally said.

He looked down at his plate, then after a few seconds looked back up to Sam. "How did this come about?" He asked her.

"Well, when I was surfing today, the coach watched me in the water. Then after I got out, he came up to me and asked me to be on the team." She told him.

"So he just asked you, because he wanted you on his team?" He asked her as she nodded her head. He slowly nodded his head up and down. "I see."

Sam looked straight as her dad. "I know it's really early for me to be thinking about joining any school clubs or teams. I know I should concentrate on my school work first, but it's surfing dad. And you know I can do it." She told him. "Besides, I used to surf everyday back home, and I still did good in school." She reminded him.

"You really wanna do this?" He looked at her. She nodded and smiled, and he could tell she really did want this. "Well," He said. "If you really think you can handle it, and you want to," He paused. "Then I guess you can be on the surf team." He finally said.

Sam smiled. "Thanks dad!" She exclaimed.

"But I have to go down there and meet your coach, and check it out before it's 'official'." He told her.

"No problem." She agreed. She got up to give him a hug. "I'm sure you'll like it." She told him.

He kissed the top of her head. "I hope so."

Bento: A packed meal, usually lunch. From the Japanese language/culture.

High makamaka: This means acting stuck-up, acting like your hot-stuff and you're too good. (Comes from Hawaiian word 'maka' meaning 'eye'. Meaning that a prideful person has his/her head and eyes up in the air above everyone else's'. "You act all high makamaka when you're not."

Rashguard: Also known as Rash Vests; the shirt like clothing that is tight to your body. It keeps your body from getting rashes, it blocks the sun off your body, and it keeps your body warm in the water.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Coach Bedolla was at the beach by eight o'clock to set up their area. By 8:15 Sam and her dad were there at the beach to meet Coach Bedolla.

"Hi Coach." Sam said as she walked up to him. She set her board on the sand and dropped her bag on it. "This is my dad, Maka." She said as they shook hands.

"It's good to meet you Coach." Her dad said with a smile.

Coach Bedolla nodded his head. "Like wise." He told them. "Well, I'm guessing you did ask him right?" He looked at Sam and saw her nod her head. "So you'd probably want to know more about the team?" He asked.

"That would be helpful." Maka answered.

"Okay, Mr. Kupihea." Coach Bedolla stopped. "Can I call you Mr. Kupihea?" He asked.

"Call me Maka."

Coach Bedolla nodded. "Maka, this is somewhat of a new surf team at our school. The idea of having a surf team has been going on for a while, but only recently they decided to go through with it. Now there are a lot of kids out there that love to surf, and this is one way they can surf and learn things at the same time." He explained. Sam looked at her dad, hoping he'd let her be on the team. Coach Bedolla finished explaining the in's and out's of the surf team and everything along with it.

"So, what kinds of grades do the students need to maintain to be able to surf?" Maka asked.

"Students can't get lower than a C- on any report cards or progress reports. If they do then they're suspended from surfing until they can bring their grades up." He told them.

Sam looked at her dad. "No worries dad." She gave him a confident smile. "I can handle it, I promise."

Maka looked at Coach Bedolla. "So you guys have basically thought of everything for this team huh?" He asked.

Coach Bedolla nodded. "Everything and anything." He grabbed his clip board from a table that was set up under the tent. "Now all I need for you to do is fill out this permission form along with contact information, and we're all set." He showed Maka the papers.

Sam looked at her dad with a pleading smile on her face. "You have a pen?" Maka asked as Sam hugged her dad.

"Sam, do you think you can head out and surf a little?" Coach Bedolla asked her.

She nodded and smiled. "No problem." She took her tank top off and picked up her surfboard. "See you in a while dad." She looked at her dad as he finished filling out the papers.

"Hey, there she is." Lucas said. Lucas, Bradin, Sean and Tracy were walking towards the coach when they saw Sam walking out to the water.

"Yeah, she's early." Sean said. "Something none of us are." He said as they all laughed. Once they reached Coach Bedolla they all said good morning then sat down to watch Sam. Slowly, the other boys on the team showed up and started to get ready to go and surf.

Sam paddled out into the water and started catching waves. She didn't exactly know what the coach wanted her to do, so she just surfed a couple waves like normal. Coach Bedolla and Sam's dad discussed some things to each other after each wave that Sam caught.

"She's pretty good." Daniel said, putting his wetsuit on. The other boys nodded and kept watching her. After a few more waves the coach waved to Sam to come back in. She walked back up the sand to see a group of boys, her dad and the coach waiting for her.

"Sorry," She said, setting her board down on the sand. "I wasn't sure what you wanted me to do. So I just did any kine."

"No, no, you did exactly what I wanted you to." Coach Bedolla said as Sam looked at him, somewhat confused. "I didn't give you any directions or details on what I wanted you to do. So you just did the only thing you knew how to do, just surf. You surfed the way you know how, and that's just what I wanted to see." He explained to her.

Sam nodded her head. "Okay." She responded.

"K, I'll see ya at home Sam." Her dad kissed her cheek goodbye as she did the same to him. "Have fun." He smiled.

Sam slapped his hand. "Latah dad." She said goodbye and watched him walk off. She dried herself off as the team of boys came to stand near her.

"Okay boys." Coach Bedolla called their attention. "This is Sam Koopeehaya." He tried to say her last name. "Did I say that right?" He asked her.

Sam shook her head and smiled. "It's Kupihea." She pronounced it correctly.

One of the boys laughed softly. "What kind of name is that?" Robert laughed.

She looked at him blankly. "It's Hawaiian." She replied.

"Huh, Hawaiian…" Robert commented. Sam raised her eyebrow at him. "Like in from Hawaaeee?" He said.

"No, as in from Hawaii." She said correctly. Robert glared at her, already not appreciating her on the team.

Coach Bedolla looked at Robert. "Okay Robert, can we cut it?" He asked, without wanting an answer. "Now Sam is going to start school on Monday, and she'll also be on our surf team. So let's try to make her feel welcomed. Can we do that?" He asked, then looked at Robert. Robert shrugged his shoulders then walked off to his board. The rest of the boys did the same thing as well.

"Don't mind him." Tracy said to Sam. "He's just one of those little whinny rich boys who thinks he should get everything he wants." He smiled. "I'm Tracy. And this is my brother Sean." He said as they both shook hands with Sam. They also introduced Lucas and Daniel as well.

"Thanks for the help yesterday." Lucas thanked her.

Sam smiled. "Nah, just helpin' out where I can."

Coach Bedolla turned to them. "C'mon guys, let's get goin'." He told them.

Sean rolled his eyes. "He's always like this." He told her and picked up his board. Sean and Tracy started running towards the water as 3 other boys followed them.

"You'll get used to him." Lucas advised her about Coach Bedolla. "You'll like it here." He smiled.

"Thanks." She returned his smile. Lucas walked out to the water and paddled to catch up with his friends.

Coach Bedolla walked over to Sam. "You can just chill for now." He told her. "I want you to watch them today, to get a feel of what a practice is like before you get out there." He said. "Just hang around here with Bradin."

Bradin smiled. "Hey." He said. "I'm Bradin." They shook hands.

"Hey." An awkward moment of silence passed between them when they finally both sat down on the sand. "So…" Sam started to say. "Why aren't you surfin' with the rest of the guys?" She asked him.

Bradin lowered his head. "I'm kinda on 'probation'." He told her. "I'm not gonna be surfin' for a while." He looked at her.

"Oh, you mustah done somethin pretty bad then." She said.

He nodded his head. "A couple of bad things." He tried to smile.

"Well, don't worry." She said. "In no time you'll be back in the water surfin' your heart out." She offered him a comforting smile. "But for today, I guess you'll be hangin' out with me, if that's okay." She smiled brightly. All Bradin could do was look at Sam and return her smile.

After a while Sam and Bradin became comfortable with each other and eventually started talking about every and anything. Bradin asked her tons of questions about living in Hawaii and what it was like. Like wise, she asked him what it was like to live in Playa Linda. He told her that he had just moved there in at the beginning of the summer from Kansas. She wanted to know all about Kansas and how it was different from Playa Linda. They ended up talking for the entire practice instead of watching everyone else surf.

Coach Bedolla blew his whistle loudly so that the boys in the water could hear. They all started coming back into shore, which meant that the practice was over. "12:15, right on time." He said.

"It's 12:15 already?" Bradin stated. "Wow, we've been talking for hours." He smiled at Sam.

"Sam." Coach Bedolla motioned for her to stand next to him.

Sam stood up and dusted her shorts off. "Yeah Coach."

"So now you know what our practices are like, right?" He asked her.

Sam smiled. "Kinda." She told him and looked down to Bradin who was smiling.

"Now, we're not having practice tomorrow, but usually the boys come down here just to surf for fun. So if you'd like to, you can come down tomorrow and surf with them." He advised her.

Sam nodded her head. "Sounds good." She told him. The boys came back to the tent to get water and to dry off. The coach talked to them for a few minutes then let them go.

"Hey Sam." Lucas called to her. "You wanna go get somethin' to eat?" He asked her. "We all usually go someplace after practice to eat."

"Thanks guys." She said. "But I gotta get home and help my dad unpack some stuff. But maybe tomorrow." She told them.

Bradin looked at her. "You're comin' tomorrow?" He asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. "If it's okay with you guys."

"Sure." Lucas sad.

"Okay. See you guys tomorrow." She said. She looked at Bradin and smiled, then turned around to walk home.

Bradin smiled back. "Bye Sam."

Lucas tossed his towel onto his surfboard then approached Bradin. "So what'd you do all day?" He asked suspiciously.

"Nothing. We just talked." He answered. "Why?"

"Because I don't want you to do anything stupid." He said plainly.

"Lucas, we just talked. That's all." Bradin told him.

Lucas raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, but for you, talking leads to a lot more." He said.

Bradin looked around him, thinking about his words carefully. "So what, I might like her. That doesn't mean anything." He finally said.

"For now it doesn't mean anything." Lucas replied. Bradin rolled his eyes at Lucas, then crossed his arms over his chest. "I mean seriously man." Lucas continued. "I want you to get back in the water with us. Just, don't do anything yet at least. Just wait a little."

Bradin knew that Lucas was right. If he wanted to get back in the water then he shouldn't be thinking of getting a girlfriend anytime soon. Not only would that get him back on his track for bad habits with girls, but his Aunt Ava would not allow any of it at all. "C'mon." Bradin finally said as he started to help take the tent down and pack things up.

"Dad, I'm home!" Sam shouted as she closed the door behind her. "Where are you?"

"I'm in upstairs Sam." He called back to her.

Sam walked up the stairs, walking over the empty boxes that were on the staircase. She found her dad shifting some boxes around in the hallway. "Hey dad." She said.

"Hi Sam." He looked up at her. "You hungry?" He asked her. She nodded and they both went back downstairs to make lunch.

"So, how was it?" He asked her as he took out the only two plates in the cupboards.

Sam went to the fridge to get out some bread. "Not bad. It was okay." She said, recalling the fact that she barely paid any attention to whoever that was surfing. They both made sandwiches to eat for lunch and went to go sit down at the table.

"Did you make friends with anyone?" Maka asked her.

"Yeah, I did." She said. "I hung out with this guy named Bradin." She told him then smiled. She looked up to see her dad staring at her with a concerned fatherly face. "Don't worry dad, nothing's gonna happen."

He stopped eating and looked straight at her. "Are you sure Sam?" He asked her. "I still remembah all those boys in Hawaii who followed you around all the time." He reminded her. "And you know I didn't like it."

"But I didn't go out with any of them, did I?" She countered his comment. She saw her dad nod slowly in agreement. "So don't worry, I wouldn't even think about getting serious with anyone. We just got here, and I didn't even start school yet." She told him. "Chillax dad, no worries." She smiled.

Kine: Pidgin; Meaning a _type _or_ kind_ of something. Used when you're not sure of something. "Local kine clothes" or "Pass me da kine"

Chillax: Pidgin; a mixture of both words _chill_ and _relax_. "I'm just chillaxin'."


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Sunday morning was a bright and sunny day. Maka knew that Sam was planning on going to the beach to meet the other boys on the surf team to surf. He got up early with Sam to help her wax her surfboard in time to go down to the beach. Maka finished waxing her board as she got her things ready to head down to the beach. It was about eight o'clock, still early, but she wanted to be there early. She left a little after eight and decided to go the long way to the beach. She walked through the different surf shops and restaurants.

Bradin went with Jay to his surf shop early that morning. He saw Sam walk by and told Jay he was going to the beach. He caught up with Sam and walked with her to the beach.

"Are we early?" She asked as she set her board down. She laid her towel out on the sand and put her bag next to it.

"Yeah, they usually get here after 8:30." He told her. He sat down next to her on her towel.

Sam looked at Bradin. "Where'd you come from?" She asked him. "I mean you just kinda popped out of nowhere." She said.

Bradin smiled. "I was at Jay's surf shop." He told her, realizing she had no idea who Jay was. "Jay lives with me. He's my aunt's friend. I live with my Aunt Ava, her two friends Jay and Susannah. Jay is a surfer, and he got me surfing in the first place. And Susannah's her partner in their fashion business." He explained. "There's also my younger sister and brother, Nikki and Derrick."

"Wow, that's a whole lot of people." She said. "It's just me and my dad. Until my brother comes to visit during Christmas." She told him.

"What about your mom?" Bradin asked her.

Sam looked out at the ocean, taking a breath in. "She passed away about a year ago."

Bradin wasn't sure how to respond to her. "Sorry." It was all he could think of at the time. "My parents both passed away too. That's why we came out here to live with my aunt." He shared with her. He then looked out to ocean, remembering his mom and dad. He hadn't really thought of the two of them in a long time, until now.

"It's just me, my brother Matt and my dad for now." Sam said after a few minutes. "But everything's been goin' okay." A faint smile appeared on her face. Bradin smiled back to Sam. He found it weird how he was able to talk about his parents and not get this feeling of complete guilt and sadness. Maybe it was because Sam also knew what it was like to lose a parent. They smiled at each other, both feeling some kind of connection between them.

"So, you think I could get some practice waves before they come?" She asked, standing up. "I mean, I don't wanna be surfin' real bad when they get here." She confessed. She took off her tank top and sunglasses. She had another purple swim suit on, but this time it was solid lavender. She picked up her board and smiled at Bradin.

"See ya in a bit." He smiled back and watched her walk down towards the water. She quickly got on some good waves in a matter of five minutes. She enjoyed just being out there by herself, knowing that no one was caring how she surfed. Bradin continued to watch her surf for a good 20 minutes before the rest of them came.

"Hey guys." He said, slapping Lucas' hands. "Took you long enough." He teased.

Sean and Tracy sat next to Bradin. "Well, looks like you've been here a while." Sean said.

"Yeah, see you've been 'Babe-Watching'." Tracy grinned. Bradin smiled and shook his head.

"No ways guys." Lucas told them. "We're not letting Bradin get any ideas about Sam. Not just yet anyway."

Sean shook his head. "Okay dad, we won't." He laughed. A few more guys from the team showed up and watched Sam out in the water with them. About ten minutes went by and Sam caught five good waves. She saw majority of the team sitting down on the sand, so she decided to head back in.

"Hey guys." She said to them.

Daniel nodded his head. "You're pretty good out there. You were rippin' it a couple times." He complimented her riding.

Sam smiled. "Always brah." She picked up an extra towel and wiped her arms and legs off. Robert was standing off to the side with two of his friends by him. He still didn't like the fact that a girl was on the team.

"How long have you been surfing?" Lucas asked her.

Sam looked up to the sky, trying to think. "Uh…" She paused. "About ten years."

All the boys dropped their jaws. A few "Wow's" and "What?" went around the group. "Ten years!" Sean exclaimed.

"Yep." Sam replied.

Robert took a few steps towards the group. "So what?" He interjected. They all turned to look at him. "I've been surfing for almost eight." He stated.

"But you're not as good as she is." Tracy smirked.

"What did you say?" Robert said, walking up to Tracy. "You wanna say that again?" He said forcefully.

"Hey, let's just surf okay?" Daniel stood up, trying to stop what would have been a fight. Sam bit her lips a turned the other way.

You could see a vein starting to emerge from Robert's forehead. "Fine." He finally said. His two friends followed Robert to their own area away from the group. The rest of the guys got up and headed towards their own surfboards. Sean stood up and turned towards Sam and Bradin. He made a face and pointed towards Robert.

"No one likes him, not even those two idiots with him." Bradin said to Sam.

"He's got a real attitude problem." Lucas added. "He's just jealous of you. A girl on the surf team, that's his problem."

Sam looked down the beach to where Robert was. "He's mad 'cause I'm a girl?" She asked.

Both Bradin and Lucas nodded. Sean zipped up his wetsuit and went to stand by Lucas. "I bet he was beat real good by a girl when he was younger. He doesn't like any girl surfer, none of 'em." He told her.

"But who cares about him." Tracy commented. "C'mon guys, let's go." He said as he was joined by his brother and ran towards the water. Lucas walked after them.

"You comin' Sam?" He called to her.

She looked towards Bradin who smiled. "Sure." She picked up her board and walked to Lucas. They all went out and hung out on their boards for a while. Finally, some of them trailed off and began to catch some waves. Sam stayed off to the side and watched them. She saw that they all had fun surfing together as friends. And if they weren't friends, it sure didn't seem that they weren't. Everyone seemed to be getting along with each other, with the exception of Robert and his followers, who were surfing on their own. She decided to join in on the fun and surfed a few waves. After about two hours Sam headed back in. it was almost 11:30 and she felt she was done for the day. She put her board down and wiped if off. She wiped all the water off her body and put her tank top back on. She sat down next to Bradin who was still sitting on her towel.

"So, this is what you're gonna have to do for a while huh?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Yeah, all 'cause I made a couple bad choices." He told her.

She looked at him. "Well, I'll hang with you until they're done." She smiled. About an hour later they all headed back to shore. They dried off and packed their things up, ready to go.

"So," Lucas said, putting his shirt on. "You guys comin'?" He asked Bradin and Sam.

"Yeah." Bradin said, standing up.

Sam stood up after Bradin. "Shoots."

She folded up her towel and put it in her backpack as the other guys got their things together as well.

"Here, let me get that." Bradin offered, picking up her surfboard.

They smiled at each other. "Thanks Bradin." She said.

Lucas looked at Bradin and rolled his eyes. _"There he goes._" He thought to himself. Lucas, Sean, Tracy, Daniel, Bradin and Sam walked together to an open restaurant where they could sit and look at the ocean.

"We usually come here every weekend." Bradin told her. They all put their things down at the front of the restaurant by the cash register. They followed a waitress to a table that looked out at the ocean. They all ordered some soda to start off with.

"This is to Sam." Sean lifted his glass up off the table. The other boys followed his lead as well. "We'd like to welcome you to our surf team, now your surf team." He said.

"May you bring us good luck and good times." Tracy added. "As well as some girl friends who would wanna go out with us." He said as they all laughed.

Bradin lifted his drink in the air. "To Sam." He smiled.

"To Sam!" They all cheered. All Sam could do was smile, take a sip of her drink, and think of what a great thing she was now a part of.

They ordered lunch and talked about surfing and school. Since Monday would be Sam's first day at school, they were all telling her what teachers to avoid, the best classes, where not to sit at lunch and the 411 of their school. Sam all of a sudden was excited to go to school, something she's never been before. With fun friends, an awesome surf team, and a cute Kansas boy, she couldn't wait to start her new life in Playa Linda.

----------------------------------------------------

Brah: Pidgin word for _pal_ or _friend_.

Shoots: Pidgin meaning "okay"


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

A new town home, new friends, and now a new school. Sam was excited to start at a new school, she always loved first days of school. But this time she was coming in well into the ending of the first semester. So it would be a bit difficult for her since all the classes were in session and friendships were already made. But despite those few set-backs, she was pumped and ready for her first day of school. She got her backpack on and said goodbye to her dad then walked to the bus stop. As she approached the bus stop, she saw Bradin waiting for the bus.

"Hey Bradin." Sam said cheerfully as she walked up to him.

Surprised to see Sam, he returned her smile. "Hey Sam." He tilted his head towards the side. "You live around here?" He asked.

"Yep. Couple of streets away." She responded. "You too I guess." She assumed.

Bradin nodded his head and cleared his throat. "And this is my sister Nikki, and her friend Cameron." He introduced them to Sam.

"Hi." They both replied.

"Hi guys." Sam smiled. "Wow, you guys must be really smart to already be in high school." She commented.

Nikki shook her head and smiled. "Oh no, the bus just drops us off at the middle school." She told Sam.

Cameron leaned over to Bradin. "You know her?" He whispered.

"Yep, she's on our surf team." He replied.

"Wow." Cameron looked at Sam. "She's pretty cute." He smiled. Nikki heard him and snapped her head and stared at Cameron. "I mean in a way-out-of-my-league-I'll-never-say-that-again sorta way." He said with a nervous laugh.

"So you ready for your first day of school?" Bradin asked Sam.

Sam let out a deep breath. "I'm up for whatever's thrown at me." She said positively. "I mean it'll be real different, but I can only hope for the best." She smiled. The bus came in a few minutes and picked them up to take them to school. Sam talked with Nikki and Cameron on the way to their school. Cameron and Nikki seemed to like Sam, and didn't mind her at all. Once they were dropped off, there were only a few high school students spread out on the bus.

"I usually don't catch the bus to school." Bradin told her from the seat across from where she was. "But I have to go see one of my teachers before homeroom." He said.

"Well then I'm glad this was the day you had to catch the bus." She said as he smiled. The bus pulled up to the high school and let the students off the bus. Bradin walked Sam to the office then headed off to see his teacher. Sam asked one of the secretary's if she could go in and talk to the principle. The secretary led Sam to the principle's office and let her have a seat and wait for the principle until she came.

"Samantha Kupihea, did I say that correctly?" Principle Graham walked in. She was carrying Sam's transcripts in a folder and set it on her desk. Sam could tell Principle Graham wasn't like other Principle's. For starters, instead of sitting in her chair on the opposite side of the desk, she sat down next to Sam.

"Basically." Sam said, trying not to start the whole pronunciation thing all over again.

Principle Graham smiled at Sam. "Well I've gone over your transcripts, read all that I need to know about you, and I think you'll enjoy it here." She said cheerfully. "I've read that you're into performing arts, as you've been apart of your previous schools' dance company, drama club, and was in the spring production of "Guys and Dolls". You're also very interested in sports. I can see you've already gotten a head start on our schools surf team." She smirked.

Sam smiled. "I couldn't help myself. I love to surf."

"You were active in several clubs. Your grades were above average. And I see you're already in an AP class, which, this class is usually only offered to seniors." She told Sam. "But since you took AP U.S. History at your old school we've bumped you up to a higher class." She took several pieces of papers out from Sam's folder and handed them to Sam. "This is your school schedule, and it seems that you have AP Economics first period." She said and smiled.

"Thank you." Sam replied.

Principle Graham put her hands on her lap. "There's also maps of the school campus just in case you need them. Along with your locker number and combination." She looked at her watch and stood up. "I think you're pretty much set Sam."

Sam stood up to shake Principle Graham's hand. "Thank you." She smiled.

"I think you'll have a wonderful time here Sam." They said goodbye and Sam headed to her homeroom. Sam walked to her homeroom which she found rather easily. She opened the door to see her homeroom teacher turning on the TV to see the daily announcements. Sam introduced herself to her homeroom teacher, Ms. Mills. After the announcements were done, Ms. Mills turned off the TV and stood next to Sam.

"Class, this is our new student Samantha Koo…" She looked at Sam, not sure how to say her last name.

"It's Samantha Kupihea." She told everyone. "And you can just call me Sam."

Ms. Mills smiled. "Well it's good to have you here Sam. You can take a seat right there." She gestured to an open seat in the third row. Sam followed Ms. Mills instructions and sat down in the open seat.

"Hey Sam." She heard someone say her name from behind. It was Daniel from the surf team who was sitting behind her.

"Oh, hi Daniel." She said, glad to know she knew at least one person in her homeroom.

"So, how's it going so far?" He asked her.

Sam shrugged her shoulders. "It's been okay I guess. Still kinda shaky about the whole 'being new' thing." She told him. They talked for a few minutes until the bell rang.

Daniel put his backpack over one shoulder. "So where ya headed to?" He asked, getting out of his seat.

Sam stood up. "AP Economics I think." She said, and checked her schedule again. "Yep, AP Economics." She repeated.

"Oh, that's right next door." Daniel said pointing to his right. They both walked out of the classroom to see the hallway filled with students moving about. "See ya Sam." Daniel waved goodbye and continued down the hall.

Sam went in the classroom and introduced herself to her teacher, Mr. Heyd. He welcomed her into the classroom and showed her to her seat. Within minutes the classroom was filled with seniors mingling with each other until the bell rang.

"Good morning class." Mr. Heyd said, walking up to the front of the room. "I'd like you all to welcome our new students, Samantha Kupihea." Mr. Heyd said and gestured to where Sam was sitting. "Samantha, would you like to say a few things about yourself before we start class?" Mr. Heyd offered her an opportunity to say some things about herself.

Sam was caught off guard by this and sat up straight in her seat. "Well, you guys can just call me Sam." She started to say as she looked around the room. "I'm a junior, and I just moved here from Hawaii." She said. With just the mention of Hawaii, the class began to buzz.

"Hawaii!" Some of the students exclaimed. "You lived in Hawaii?" She heard another girl say. She didn't want to bring up the pronunciation thing again, so she just smiled and nodded her head.

"But wait, you said you were a junior?" One of the boys asked. "Then how can she be in this class, this is for seniors." He looked at Mr. Heyd.

Mr. Heyd turned to Sam. "Would you like to explain that?" He asked her. Sam figured that Mr. Heyd was a very open teacher with his students and he like a lot of class participation.

"Well, last year at my old school, I was in U.S. History, which is I guess what juniors are taking this year. Well, actually, AP U.S. History." Sam corrected herself.

"Wow." A student in the front row said. He had brown wavy hair that barely touched his eyebrows. He wore a navy blue long sleeved shirt that was tight on his body. "Brains, and beauty. Excellent mix." He smiled at Sam. The class was filled with "Ooohs" in a mockingly way.

Another boy sitting next to Sam smiled. "I think she's blushing Avery." He said as a few laughs went around the room. Sam looked down at her paper and smiled.

"Okay Avery, enough of this dating game. Let's get back to work." Mr. Heyd interrupted. "It's a pleasure to have you here Sam." He said.

"Thank you Mr. Heyd." She smiled. She turned to Avery who winked at her then gave her his most friendliest smile.

Sam smiled back then looked down at her binder. _"What is this class? _She thought to herself._ "Well, this is a great way to start my first day." _She shook her head and opened her binder to start taking notes. At the end of the class, all the students gathered their things up quickly and rushed out the door.

"I hope you enjoyed your first day of class Sam." Mr. Heyd said to her as she walked by his desk.

"It was definitely different." She smiled. She was about to head out the door when she was stopped by Avery at his desk.

"Hey." He said slyly. He smiled one of those 'million-dollar' smiles.

"Hi." Sam replied.

Avery put his backpack on. "So, how was your first class?" He asked her.

She looked at him strangely. "It was okay. Considering I've never had someone say something like that to me on my first day." She said to him.

Avery smiled again. "Well, I meant every word." He told her. "So, maybe I'll see ya at lunch or something."

"Maybe."

"Good. I'll see ya later then." He smiled then walked out the door. Sam took a deep breath, and relaxed her flustered face. She shook her head and decided to let that go and just try to make it through the rest of her day.

Her next class was French 2. She'd taken French in middle school, but switched to Hawaiian in ninth grade. She still remembered the basics and other tenses of

verbs, so it was an okay class. Her third class was Physics. She saw Bradin sitting in his seat when she walked in. She smiled at him, hoping he'd noticed. He did, and he smiled back. She introduced herself to the teacher again, and then to the class. Luckily there weren't any assigned seats in that class, so she decided to sit next to Bradin. Physics, or any kind of science wasn't Sam's favorite, but she was happy she'd have Bradin with her. Mrs. Galaso got her a Physics textbook and handed her a paper with assignments on them.

"Bradin, would you mind telling Sam about what we're doing today?" She asked as she returned to her desk in the back of the class.

"No problem." He replied. He opened her book to chapter ten. "We're basically doing in class stuff today." He told her. "So we're just taking notes, then we gotta do these homework problems when we're done." He pointed to the slip of paper their teacher handed them.

Sam took out a pen from her bag and pulled out several sheets of folder paper. "Sounds good." She said. They both worked on their problems together, helping each other when they needed it. Sam was in physics before she left Hawaii, so she basically knew what they were working on. Bradin and Sam talked for most of the period, in between working on their problems.

"So what do you have next?" Bradin asked Sam.

Sam looked at her schedule she folded up and stuck in her pocket. "Honors English." She told him.

"Wow, Honors." He smiled.

"Hey, that's nothin' compared to my AP Economics class." She told him. "But that's another story." She said. "I'll see you at lunch then."

Bradin smiled back. "Okay." They both walked out of the room and went in their own directions.

In the lunch line, she ran into Sean who was in front of her. Sean gave her all the details she needed to know on what to get and what not to at lunch. He showed her to their table that they sat at during lunch. Tables were set up outside of the cafeteria for students to sit at if they wanted to. As they approached the table, Sam saw Lucas, Daniel, and Bradin already eating their lunch.

"Hey guys." Sam said as both she and Sean took a seat at the table.

"Hi Sam." Bradin smiled as the other guys smiled with food in their mouths.

Lucas put his soda down. "So, how's your first day goin'?" He asked her.

"It's okay. Some weird classes though." She told them. "My first class, AP World Economics was the strangest." She mentioned.

They all looked at Sam with serious expressions. "AP World Economics." Lucas repeated.

"As in the senior course, AP World Economics?" Sean gasped.

Sam looked at all of them and nodded. "Yeah, somethin' wrong with that?" She asked and took a bite of her hotdog.

"Well, it's a senior class. You're a junior." Lucas stated. "How'd you get in that class?"

"Last school year I took AP U.S. History, which I think you guys are taking now right?"

Sean nodded his head. "Yeah, I'm in regular U.S., and I can't stand it. But you were in it last year?"

"As a sophomore?" Bradin asked her.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I was in our AP class. I liked it." She confessed. "So since I already took it, they moved me to the next class."

They all looked at each other in astonishment. "Wow Sam, are you a genius or something?" Daniel said.

"Nah, I just like History that's all. But there was this senior in my class…" She trailed off. "I think he was hitting on me." She told them as Bradin snapped his head towards Sam.

"What?" Bradin said, barely chocking on his food. Lucas and Daniel couldn't help but laugh, which made them almost spit out their food. "What guy?" Bradin asked, sounding very protective of Sam.

Just as Sam was about to answer, Avery came walking up to their table. "Hey Sam." He said smoothly. He looked at the others at the table and gave them a half smile.

Lucas and Bradin looked at each other with confused faces. Daniel raised on eyebrow to Avery and Sean glared at him.

"Avery." Lucas finally said with no expression at all.

"So Sam," He said looking at her. "How's your first day been going?" He asked politely.

Sam looked at him curiously. "Fine, I guess."

Avery nodded his head and smiled. "You wanna come sit with me at my table?" He asked.

Sam looked at the guys, as if she was looking for an answer in their faces. She turned to Bradin who looked very concerned. "Uh…" She finally spoke up. "No thanks, I'm kinda havin' lunch with my friends." She told him.

Avery shifted his weight from his right leg to his left. You could tell he was uncomfortable with her answer. "Oh." He said, sounding very surprised. "Well, maybe some other day." He smiled. "I guess I'll see ya tomorrow in class." He winked at Sam then left the table and walked towards his.

"What was that all about?" Daniel finally asked after a few moments passed.

"That was the guy in my Economics class." She told them.

"Avery!" Lucas blurted out. "That was the guy?" He sounded very shocked and disgusted at the same time.

Sam nodded her head and fingered what was left of her hotdog. "Yeah, it was really weird in class." She said. She looked at everyone and could tell they didn't like him. "You guys obviously don't like him, do you?"

"It's more like he doesn't like us." Sean told her. "He's mister 'All-Star' being on the football team, baseball, basketball and wrestling team." He continued.

"But one thing he can't do is surf." Lucas grinned. "And he wouldn't dare go out for the surf team, 'cause he wouldn't make it."

Bradin looked in Avery's direction. "He doesn't care for anyone on the surf team just 'cause we can surf and he can't. So he has this grudge against us, even though we didn't do anything, at all." He looked at Sam. "That's why we don't like him.

"And," Daniel began to say. "He didn't like Bradin when he first started school 'cause word got around that Bradin was also an All-Star athlete, and Avery didn't like that."

Sam looked at Bradin. "Really, are you?" She asked curiously.

"Nah, I've only played a couple sports." He told her.

"Yeah, but you're all good at them. And that's what Avery hates, someone better than he is." Lucas said.

Sam finished up her hotdog and soda. "Well, I could care less about what Avery thinks. I just wanna get through this first day of school." She told them. They finished up their lunch and headed out to their next class. Bradin went with Sam to find her locker and to drop off all her text books.

"So what classes do you have next?"

"Calculus, and Photography." Sam said, opening her locker.

Sam widened his eyes. "Wow, Calculus. Man, you are a genius." He smiled.

Sam shook her head and rolled her eyes. "My dad just put me into all those outside of school classes for extra help." She told him. "What do you have last?"

"Library Service, which is totally easy, and then French." He told her.

"Hey, I'm in French 2." She said as they both smiled. She put the rest of things in her locker and closed it. "So what's Library Service like?" She asked him as they started to walk down the hall.

"We don't do anything really. Just shelve books basically."

Sam smirked. "So it's basically a cruise class." She said. She looked at Bradin who didn't know what she meant by 'cruise'. "Oh, that means it's really easy." She smiled.

There were two more periods left in the day, and the day was done. After the bell rang everyone rushed to their lockers and headed out of school. Sam went to her locker to get her books for her homework. She also had surf practice that afternoon. Bradin went to go meet Sam so they could walk to practice together.

"Hey Sam." Bradin said as he walked up to her. "You wanna walk to practice?" He asked politely.

"Sure." Sam smiled. She pulled out several books, notebooks and binders she needed for her homework.

Bradin reached out to grab her books. "Here, I'll carry those. You have enough to carry yourself." He offered.

Sam smiled and willingly gave him her books. "Thanks Bradin. Do you mind if we stop off at my house to dump all this?" She asked. Bradin shook his head and smiled. They both walked out of school and headed for Sam's house. When they got there, her dad was putting some things in the kitchen.

"Hey dad." Sam called from the front door. "I'm just droppin' some stuff off." She put her backpack down on the living room couch and Bradin placed her books on a small table that was next to it. They both walked into the kitchen where Sam's dad was.

"Dad, this is Bradin. He's on the surf team." She said as Bradin shook Maka's hand.

"Nice to meet you Mr. Kupihea." Bradin said.

Maka nodded. "Just call me Uncle Maka." He told him. Bradin looked confused at what he just said.

"It's a local thing back home." Sam told Bradin. "We call our neighbors or good family friends uncle and aunty, even if we're not related to them." She explained.

"Or you can just call me Mr. K, if you're more comfortable with that." Maka smiled.

Bradin nodded. "Okay."

"So, you're also on the surf team?" Maka asked.

"Yeah, but I'm currently…" Bradin began to say. "On probation from surfing." He told him. "I did some stupid things which got me suspended." He confessed.

Maka smiled and nodded. "Well we all do things like that." He said in a comforting voice. "So, you guys got practice?" He asked as Sam nodded.

"Yeah, we gotta head out already." She said as she started to walk out of the kitchen. "See ya latah dad." She called to him, already out of the kitchen.

"Nice meetin' you Mr. K." Bradin said goodbye.

"You too Bradin." Maka said and gave Bradin a friendly smile and a shaka.

Sam and Bradin walked on the beach to practice, passing some students from school on the way there. When they got there, there were only a few guys waiting on the beach, already in their wetsuit. Soon after the other guys showed up along with Coach Bedolla. Coach Bedolla went over what he wanted the boys to practice and work on. Then he let them go while he talked to Sam.

"Sam, today I just want you to go out there and surf." He said.

She looked at him as if there were more, but there wasn't. "Just surf?" She asked.

"Yep, just surf." He nodded.

"Okay." She said. "But uh, one thing Coach." She said before he turned away. "I don't wear wetsuits." She said.

Coach Bedolla took his sunglasses off and looked at Sam. "You don't wear wetsuits?" He asked her. "Why not?"

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "I just never liked using them. But I'll use my rashguard." She offered. "I'm just not a really big fan of wetsuits." She looked at him, hoping he'd still let her surf regardless of what she wore.

He crossed his hands over his chest and looked at Sam. Tracy walked up to Coach Bedolla and leaned on his shoulder. "Personally Coach, I don't think Sam should have to wear anything to cover up her body." He grinned as Sam looked to the sand and shook her head.

"Tracy will you get out of here!" Coach Bedolla shouted at him which sent him running away. "Okay, you can wear your rashguard." He gave in.

"Thanks Coach." Sam thanked him and smiled. She walked over to her board, put her rashguard on and picked up her board. She headed out for the water and paddled out far enough to catch some decent waves. After practice the coach informed everyone that their schedule was changing, so now there were practices only on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. As Sam was packing her things up, Robert walked up to her.

"So you're breaking our rules now?" He scoffed.

Sam looked at him. "What?"

"First he lets you on the team, a girl. And now he lets you wear a rashguard instead of a wetsuit." Robert explained to her. "You're supposed to wear a wetsuit." He said childishly.

"Well I guess Coach doesn't care if I do or if I don't." Sam retorted. "Why should you care?"

"I don't. But you're not gonna come on my team, and mess everything up. Sooner or later, everyone else is gonna insist on wearing whatever they wanted to." He told her. "So don't get used to this special treatment just 'cause you're a girl." He glared at Sam.

Bradin walked up to them and stared at Robert. "Hey, back off man." He said forcefully.

Robert scoffed and started to walk off. "Whatever." He glared at both Sam and Bradin.

Bradin watched Robert walk off with his friends then turned to Sam. "He's just stupid. With that whole being a girl thing. Don't listen to him." He said to her.

Sam shook her head. "Don't worry, I wasn't planning to." She took one last look at Robert, then got her things to go. When she got home, she took a shower and had dinner with her dad. She told him everything that went on for her first day of school. Even the things about Avery and Robert.

"Well, at least you've seemed to have made a good friend." Maka told her. "That Bradin seems pretty nice." He said.

Sam smiled. "Yeah, he is." She drifted off, thinking about Bradin. When she snapped back to reality her dad was looking at her with one of those fatherly looks. "Don't worry dad, I told you already." She smiled. "I'm not interested in anyone right now. I wanna get used to school and the surf team first, okay." She told him. Sam knew that it was going to be a long rest of the year for her. If she was going to have to stand being in Avery's class everyday, there was one road block to an easy year. And having Robert on the surf team with her wasn't going to be an easy task to deal with. But she did have Lucas and the guys to hang with. And she did really like hanging out with Bradin, who seemed to also be taking an interest for Sam as well. But she did what she promised her dad she'd do; she wasn't going to think about dating or boys. At least not yet…

--------------------------------------------------

Cruise: Pidgin meaning easy, not so hard. Also, cruise can also be used when talking about driving around for fun or visiting places/people. "That test was so cruise" or "Eh, we go cruise at the beach."

Shaka: A gesture of the hands; with the thumb and pinky finger extended out. Usually displayed between friends when saying hello or goodbye. Also it can be used in a positive way; to express a liking of something, meaning something is good.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Two weeks had gone by since Sam's first day of school. In those two weeks she got used to her schedule, and started getting used to the surf team and everyone on it. She had long days at school, and with practice after, she ended up staying up late into the night finishing homework. But she knew she had to do that if she wanted to stay on the surf team. Her dad found a job working at the local radio station. He'd be working on a classic rock radio station, something he'd always want to do. In high school he helped out at his dad's friends radio station and learned how to run and work the studio.

Bradin was also doing well these past few weeks. Although when he told his aunt Ava and the rest of his family about Sam, they weren't as happy as Bradin was. Bradin explained to his aunt that he knew the rules, and he wasn't thinking about starting anything with Sam. Sam was just a new friend that he liked spending time with. Ava wanted to believe Bradin, but after everything Bradin's done since he moved here, she didn't know if she should believe him or not. Ava reminded him to focus on his school work and getting back on the surf team. Until then, she didn't want him thinking about anything other than that. But Bradin did want something more between him and Sam. So he asked if he could bring Sam over to the house to meet them so that they'd get to know her, then maybe Ava would think about letting him date Sam. But Ava just wanted to meet Sam first before she let Bradin do anything else.

"Hey Sam." Bradin called to her after practice. She was putting her things away when Bradin walked up to her. "Can I ask you somethin'?"

"Sure." She said. "What's up?"

Bradin looked around him to see if Lucas was anywhere to be found, and he wasn't. "Well, I was just wondering…" He trailed off when he noticed Lucas walk by them.

"Later guys." Lucas waved to them.

"Bye Lucas." They both replied. "You were saying?" Sam said to Bradin.

Bradin hesitated, but finally asked her. "You wanna come over to my house tomorrow after school? You know, to do homework, hang out, stuff like that?" He asked her. He bit his lip anticipating her answer.

Sam smiled. "Well, I'd haftah ask my dad, but I'm pretty sure he'd be cool with it." She smiled. "I can call you tonight just to make sure."

Bradin smiled. "Awesome. I guess I'll be waiting for your call." He told her. "I'll talk to ya later then." He said.

"Okay. Bye Bradin." Sam smiled and turned around to start heading home. Bradin watched her walk away. He smiled to himself and looked up to the sky. He turned around to head home, thinking for the best to happen tomorrow. When Sam got home, she took a shower, thinking of a way to ask her dad about tomorrow. She knew that her dad would think that Sam liked Bradin, which she did, but she wasn't about to admit that to her dad just yet. He still wanted her to focus on school work and surfing, like most parents would want their kids to do. She'd have to find a way to ask her dad about it, without getting the Parent Patrol on her back.

"Dad, can I ask you something?" Sam said in a somewhat uncomfortable tone.

Maka caught on to her strange tone and lifted his head. "What do you want?" He asked plainly.

"Nothin' like that dad." She said to him. "I was jus wonderin' if I could go over to Bradin's house tomorrow after school." She said. He almost dropped his fork on the floor when she said that.

"Go over to Bradin's house?" He repeated harshly. "For what?" He asked suspiciously.

"I don't know. To do homework I guess." She said innocently. "He kinda just asked me out of the blue today after practice." She told him.

Maka took a big gulp of water and set his cup back on the table. "Is anyone else gonna be there?" He asked in a fatherly way.

"I'm pretty sure his sister and brother are. And I think his aunt will be there too. And her friends." Sam explained to him.

"What about his parents?" Maka asked, not knowing much of anything about Bradin.

"Oh." Sam said. "His parents passed away before this summer." She told him as they both looked away from the table.

"Oh." Maka replied softly. Both Sam and her dad understood what it must've been like for Bradin. They too lost someone they loved more than anything. "So he lives with his aunty?"

Sam nodded her head. "Yeah, since this summer. I promise you, we won't do anything except work." She said.

Maka took a long look at Sam. "Sam," He said after a few minutes of silence. "Do you like this boy?" He asked her bluntly. Her dad wasn't much of a tactful person.

Sam faintly smiled, then remembered her dad was watching. "Well…" She trailed off. She looked at her dad, and she knew that he understood what that "Well" meant.

"Sam." He said in a fatherly tone.

"Oh c'mon dad, it's just a crush. Nothing more than that." She said.

Maka still felt it was his right to protect his only daughter, being the fatherly figure he was. But he knew that he couldn't do that for much longer. "Look Sam, I know you've never been interested in any boy back home, or at least you've never said anything about that." He looked at her. "And I know you'd never do anything without telling me." He said louder.

"No I wouldn't." Sam quickly responded.

"But I don't want you to get distracted with boys right now. We just moved here, you just started school, and you're on this surf team. So I'm afraid if you get involved with any boy you won't focus on school or surfing."

Sam looked at her dad and smiled. "Dad, I know you don't want me to do bad in school or on the surf team." She told him. "And you just don't want me to have a boyfriend." She said.

"Well there's that too." Maka said as they both laughed.

"C'mon dad, we're just gonna do work. I promise." She said cheerfully.

Maka looked at Sam. "Okay. But if you go to his house, he's gonna have to come over here to spend an afternoon with me." He told her, leaning back in his chair, knowing that had hit her hard.

Sam swallowed. "Here? With you?" She asked with an irritable look.

Maka smiled slyly. "Yep, with me. That's the deal." He told her.

Sam took a few moments to think about her dads offer. She really did want to spend more time with Bradin, but was it really worth having her dad give Bradin the third degree if he came over to her house? Which might scare off Bradin for good?

"Uh…" She thought about it, and decide if that was what she had to do to get to know Bradin, she'd go through with it. "Fine." She gave in.

"Okay then." Maka told her. "You can go to his house tomorrow. But there bettah be someone else there." He warned her, but eased his tone with a smile.

After dinner Sam went upstairs to her room to call Bradin and tell him she could go to his house. He was just as excited as Sam was. With so many people in Bradin's house, eventually everyone knew that Bradin was bringing Sam over the next day.

"So, what do you know about this Sam Bradin's bringing over tomorrow?" Susannah asked Nikki in the living room.

"Well, I only met her once. But she seemed pretty cool." Nikki told her.

Susannah got up and walked over to where Ava was in the kitchen. "Hmm, the kid says she's cool. Should we believe that?" Susannah said to Ava.

"We'll just find out tomorrow when she's here." Ava said calmly. "I don't want Bradin to go through another failed relationship after his last three." She said in a concerned voice.

"Don't worry Ava, this girl seems pretty alright if you ask me." Jay called to them from the couch. He put his feet up on the table and turned the TV on. "Bradin's told me a little about her, and he think he's picked a good one this time." He smiled.

Ava stopped putting the food away. "Wait, he talked to you about her? Already?" She asked as he nodded. "He didn't tell me anything about her, not really." She said.

Susannah looked at Ava and could tell she was very concerned about what Bradin was doing. "Oh Ava stop worrying. Bradin's doing a lot better now, you know that." She commented. "His grades are up, he's not buggin' you about surfing, just relax." She said and started to put some food away.

"But if he's not telling me about her-" Ava said just before Susannah cut her off.

"Relax. You can only do so much for the kid. I'm sure he knows if he screws up on more time, we're sending him to military school." She joked.

Nikki smiled. "Hey, that's not such a bad idea." She said as they all laughed.

Ava sighed. "I just want the best for Bradin."

Jay stood up and walked over to Ava. "We all do Ava. But we also gotta think about what Bradin wants for himself. And if he's gonna get there the right way."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The next day at school, Lucas noticed that Bradin was especially happy. After lunch Lucas followed Bradin and asked him why he was so cheerful. Needless to say Lucas wasn't as happy about the reason as Bradin was.

"Dude, you promised you weren't gonna do anything just yet. C'mon, you're still suspended from surfing." Lucas complained. "You really wanna do something now? When coach just might let you back on the team?"

"Lucas, it's not like I'm asking her to marry me." Bradin said. "She's just comin' over to my house, that's all." They both walked into the library which was as quiet as a graveyard.

"Are you sure that's all?" Lucas asked in a rather loud voice.

"SHHH!" One of the librarians said to them.

Bradin turned to Lucas. "Look, you know I like her, so what's the problem? It's not like we're gonna be alone. You think my aunt Ava would do that with me?" He asked. Lucas shook his head. "Then what's the big deal?"

"What if she likes you too?" Lucas said in a quieter voice.

"And that's a bad thing?" Bradin asked, amazed at what he and Lucas was arguing about. He took his backpack off and placed it on a table near the check out desk. "Look, I'm not hoping to find my future soul mate after today. I just wanna get to know her more. I mean, Sam's different ya know. She's not like Callie or Erika. I don't know, but I-I just feel more comfortable around her." Bradin said with the utmost sincerity. "I know I've done a lot of crap things since I've been here, so I'm not rushing anything. But if Sam and I feel the same way about each other, and someday we end up going out, then I know I'm not gonna do the same stupid things I did before." Lucas looked at Bradin and he could tell that Bradin meant every word.

Lucas sighed, then scratched his head. "Okay man, it sounds like you really got this one planned out." The bell rang to start the next period. "Well I gotta get to class." He said as they slapped each others hand. "Good luck with today man. Even if I don't fully approve." Lucas smiled.

"Ah, get outta here man." Bradin smiled and laughed. Two more periods and he'd meet Sam to go over to his house. Bradin met Sam at her locker and walked her over to his house, hoping that nothing weird would happen.

"So, where are they?" Nikki asked as she, Cameron and Amber rushed in through the front door. "Are they home yet?" She asked, dropping her bag on the table.

Jay shook his head. "Nope, not yet. But they should be home soon." He told them, flipping through different channels on the TV.

"Geez, why's everyone so excited about Bradin and that girl?" Derrick asked, sitting at the table. "I mean, Bradin's done a lot of stupid stuff, but it's just another girl."

"Exactly." Ava said from the kitchen. "Another girl, that's what I'm worried about." She looked at Susannah who was mentally telling Ava to relax.

Amber sat down in one of the chairs in the living room. "Well, I wanna meet her." She said cheerfully. "If Bradin likes another girl, she's gotta be…well…you know." She smiled. Everyone knew what Amber meant, since there was a trend in the girls he liked.

"Nah, Sam seems pretty cool. I like her." Cameron said.

Nikki turned to him with a mad face. "What?" She asked sharply.

Cameron cleared his throat. "I mean, uh…" He said, moving away from Nikki and towards Jay. "I just meant that she's pretty cool in a nice-high-school-girl-that-I-have-no-interest-in kinda way." He said and laughed nervously.

"Nice one." Jay commented, patting Cameron's shoulder.

Colby took a sip of his drink. "I hope Bradin picked a nice one this time. From what you've all told me, Sarah had problems," He said, tapping his head. "Callie had a self-esteem problem, and Erika was off the re-bound." He said as they all turned to Jay. Jay looked up at Colby with a solemn face. "Uh, I mean, that's what I heard." Colby said, then took a sudden interest in his drink and said no more.

"Hey guys, we're home." Bradin called out as he opened the door. Everyone sat up and moved towards the door to see who Bradin brought home. "Wow, I didn't know everyone was gonna be here." Bradin said, suspicious of everyone, even though he figured they'd all be there to meet Sam. "Well everyone," He cleared his throat. "This is Sam." He smiled.

"Hi." She said sweetly, not realizing there would be this many people there.

"Hi Sam, I'm Bradin's aunt, Ava." She said stepping forward to shake Sam's hand.

Sam smiled. "It's nice to meet you." Sam replied.

"And this is Susannah and Colby, my aunt's business partners." Bradin told her. He introduced Sam to everyone, who was surprisingly welcoming.

"Well it's great to meet all of you." Sam said after she met everyone. "There's definitely more people here than at my house." She said.

Ava nodded her head. "Well, we definitely have a full house." She smiled. "Do you live with your parents?" She asked, just remembering that Bradin had told her that Sam lost her mom.

Sam smiled. "Just my dad and me. Until my older brother comes to visit during Christmas. My mom passed away last year." She said.

"Yes, Bradin told me about that. I'm sorry." Ava consulted her.

"That's okay." Sam told her. At that moment everyone felt uncomfortable.

"Well, we'd better let you two work." Susannah finally broke the silence in the room.

Ava nodded. "We'll be upstairs if you need us." She said and patted Bradin on the shoulder. "If in case anything happens." She hinted at Bradin as Colby and Susannah followed her upstairs.

"Yeah, we've got work to do too." Nikki said. Nikki, Cameron and Amber headed upstairs to Nikki's room.

Jay and Derrick started walking to the backdoor. "And we've got our own projects to work on." Jay told them. "Well see you guys later."

"Bye Sam." Derrick smiled as he walked outside with Jay.

Bradin showed Sam to their couch to sit on. He got them both snacks and drinks as she sat down and took her books out. "Well, you'd definitely wouldn't get bored in your house." Sam said as they both laughed.

"Yeah, they're alright." He admitted. "Once you get used to them." He opened his soda and set it on the table. "So, what'd you like to do?" He asked as he clapped his hands together.

"Well, I have Economics, but I can do that later. And some French." She said as she made a funny face that made Bradin laugh.

"What, you don't like French?" He asked her with a trickle of laughter in his voice.

Sam smiled and shrugged. "Well, I'd rather be takin' Hawaiian." She told him. "I'm decent at French, but it's not my favorite."

Bradin took out his French homework and set it in front of Sam. "You wanna help me with mine?" He asked her.

"Sure, why not. Then we can see if my 3 years of French really paid off." She smiled.

Bradin moved to sit next to Sam on the coach. When he sat down their knees touched, and they both looked at each other. They smiled and neither of them pulled away. At the same time they both let out a small laugh and began to go over Bradin's work.

"I think she's cute." Susannah said to Ava. "What do you think?" She asked both Ava and Colby.

Colby put some outlines of dresses down on the desk. "Well, she seems like a doll to me." He said. Just then, they heard Sam and Bradin laughing form downstairs. "See?" He looked to Ava. "They're doing just fine."

"I know, she seems really sweet." Ava said. She agreed with both Susannah and Colby, but at the same time she was still worried.

"What is it?" Susannah asked her. She could tell by the look on Ava's face that something was wrong.

Ava shook her head. "I just don't want Bradin to do something stupid with her." She told them. "Sam seems like a sweet and nice girl, and I don't want Bradin to hurt her."

"Ava," Susannah said, putting her hand on Ava's shoulder. "Bradin has made mistakes. But he knows that he has, and he's working on becoming a new Bradin. I'm sure he doesn't wanna go back to his old ways. If he really likes this girl, then he'll have to make the right decisions on his own."

"She's right ya know." Colby added. "You just need to relax, let him do things on his own. Then you can see if he really is changing."

"She seems pretty cool, from what five minutes I spent with her." Amber said, tapping her butterfly pencil on her notebook.

Nikki nodded. "Yeah, she seems cool. I hope Bradin doesn't do anything stupid."

Cameron shook his head. "Why does everyone keep saying that?" He asked them.

Both Amber and Nikki turned to him as if he had just asked the most stupidest question in the world. "Because he's a guy." Nikki answered.

Cameron looked at the both of them, still not getting the answer he wanted. "So, what does that mean? I'm a guy." He stated.

"There's you answer." Amber teased him sarcastically as she and Nikki laughed.

An hour went by and Sam had helped Bradin finish his French homework. They started working on their chapter review test for physics, a subject they both didn't like. Just before Sam left, she asked Bradin if he'd like to go to Sam's house Saturday after practice. He was thrilled she asked him, and immediately said yes, even without asking his aunt. He told her he'd call her just to clarify about Saturday. When he asked aunt Ava about going over to Sam's house, she was a little hesitant about letting him go. But she knew Sam's dad would be there, and that someone would be watching them, so she said okay.

Saturday came and it went just like how it did at Bradin's house. Except Sam's dad was more interested in finding out every little detail about Bradin than Ava was about Sam. It's like Maka was asking Bradin 20 questions about himself, which made Sam very embarrassed. Finally, when Maka went to work on their garage, Sam and Bradin had time to talk and hang out. They ended up playing some video games and they played on Sam's pool table. Sam and her dad were huge fans of pool, and they had to bring their pool table with them to Playa Linda. Bradin found out he wasn't as good at pool as Sam was, but he still found it fun. They basically hung out for the entire day, until Bradin left to go home for dinner.

From then on, Bradin and Sam went to each others house once a week for about a month. They did this so their families could get used to them, and so that they'd get to know each other better. Even the guys on the surf team knew about this arrangement Sam and Bradin had, and of course gave Bradin a hard time about it, all in a playful spirit of course. As those weeks went by, Sam and Bradin definitely got closer, and hopefully their relationship was leading to somewhere they both wanted it to be.


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was the beginning of December, which meant Christmas was around the corner. Everyone considered the mall their second home, and students started cramming for exams before Christmas break. But for the guys and Sam on the surf team, this meant their Winter invitational. This meet that was coming up would secure whatever five teams in the district a spot at the Regional after Christmas break.

"Okay guys." Coach Bedolla said as everyone gathered around him. "Now, I want you all to get a good nights rest, we've got a big day tomorrow. Eat a lot of carbs, drink lots of water, and sleep early. We all want that spot for regional, so let's all help each other get it, okay?" He said. "Okay, hands in." He dismissed his team and sent them off to a positive start to their weekend.

The next morning they were all supposed to meet at the schools gym to go to the beach together. They were traveling to a beach a few miles from their school, so they all loaded up the vans and headed down the beach. Once they got there, everyone helped unload the vans and took their equipment out. Sam walked out on the beach and saw tons of people waiting for the meet to start.

"Wow." Sam gasped.

"Yeah, I know." Lucas said as he walked along side Sam. "Suring's a big thing here. People from all over come out to see high school competitions." He told her.

Sean and Tracy came up behind them. "Yeah, pretty awesome huh." Tracy said.

Sean smiled. "And check out all of these pretty little ladies." He said as he lowered his glasses. Two girls in bikini's walked by them, giggling to each other and looking at both Sean and Tracy.

"Hello ladies." Sean grinned, which made them giggle even more. They set up their area and lined up their surfboards. With a small pep talk given by Coach Bedolla, the announcers came by to give them the line up of the days competitions.

"Okay guys, lets do it." Coach Bedolla gave some final encouraging words and the meet began. Several surfers from their school went out to compete, getting decent scores, but none Coach Bedolla was pleased with.

"C'mon you guys, you gotta pick it up." He shouted over all the noise. "Robert." He called.

"Yeah Coach." Robert came running up to him.

Coach Bedolla jerked his head towards the water. "You're up." He said.

Robert smiled. "Awesome." He went to grab his surfboard then headed out into the water. He paddled out to the line up and waited with the other surfers. Robert, being very aggressive stepped up to the challenge and caught his first wave. He paddled along with the wave then stood up on his board.

"And here's Robert Livingston from Playa Linda High. And he starts out with a basic goofy-footed maneuver." The announcer said. Robert stood up on the board with his right foot forwards, then he cutbacked on his wave, going from left to right, and ended with a 360 turn. Everyone from their school went crazy for Robert as he surfed back into shore.

"And that was Robert Livingston everyone, with a score of…" The announcer waited for the judges. "47 out of 50!" He said as they all cheered.

Robert ran back to his teammates to see everyone up and cheering for him. "Yes, that's what I'm talkin' about!" Coach Bedolla shouted happily as he slapped Robert's hand.

"That was tight man." Daniel complimented him. The rest of the meet was a lot better than the first half. Robert's 'big win' really turned the team around, and they all seemed to be doing better.

"Hey guys." Bradin said as he saw Ava and Jay walking up to them. "What are you guys doin' here?" He asked them.

"Well we wanted to come and watch." Jay said, slapping Bradin's hand.

Ava smiled. "And we wanted to see Sam compete in her first meet." She said to Sam.

"Thanks, I'm kinda nervous though." She said.

"Nah, you'll be fine." Jay said. Susannah, Colby, Nikki and Cameron arrived shortly with lawn chairs and umbrellas.

It was nearly the end of the competition with one more surfer from each school to go. This was Sam's turn to show everyone what she's got.

"Okay Sam." Coach Bedolla said, putting both hands on her shoulders. "This is it. Show them how it's done." He smiled. "Just like how we practiced it."

Sam nodded her head and tried to smile. "I'll give it my best." She grabbed her board then gave Bradin a smile.

"Good luck Sam." He called out to her as she started running towards the water.

"And here we have Samantha Kupihea, but she goes by Sam, the only girl out here today folks." She heard the announcer say as she stepped in the water. "She just moved to Playa Linda from Hawaii, maybe we can see some big things from her today."

Bradin smiled, knowing that the announcer was right. Sam paddled out to the line up and sat up on her board. She knew what score she needed to beat in order to take her team to regionals. She let a few other guys catch their waves and watched how they did.

"C'mon Sam." Coach Bedolla said to himself. Then he heard a familiar hello from behind. It was Sam's dad.

"Hey Coach." Maka said, shaking Coach Bedolla's hand.

"Hey, nice of you to make it out here." He said. "Does Sam know you were coming?" He asked

Maka shook his head. "Nope, I'm kinda surprising her." He admitted.

"Well, she's up right now." Coach Bedolla told him and pointed her out in the water. Maka smiled when he spotted her out in the water. Sam decided it was now or never to catch her wave. She started paddling as a wave approached.

"And here she goes folks." The announcer said into the microphone. Sam stood up on the board, catching her balance. It was the perfect wave; good size, good force. Sam rode the wave to her left, barely getting in under the wave. Then at the right moment she did a slash turn that let her go back the way she came from. She then did a 360 Shove-it in the middle of the wave. She finished off by doing a 360 on her board herself. The entire crowd went wild as they watched Sam.

"Yes!" All of her teammates jumped up and down cheering for her. Her dad clapped his hands and whistled for her as she rode back into shore.

"There it is folks, that original Hawaiian style surfing, just given to you by Sam Kupihea. We'll be expecting a lot outtah this girl from now on." The announcer exclaimed. Sam ran up to her teammates with such excitement she forgot that there were other people there.

Her team awaited her to give her tons of hugs and compliments. "Yes Sam! That was it!" Coach Bedolla exclaimed. "You did it!" Coach Bedolla hugged her.

Sam saw her dad standing in back of Coach Bedolla and cried, "Dad!" She hugged him, despite still dripping of water. "You came!"

"You were awesome Sam!" He cried, lifting her up in the air.

Sam looked at her teammates. "What was my score?" She asked anxiously.

"Check this out." Sean said. "49.5!" He told her as she screamed.

"Are you serious?" She said with hysteria. "Yes!" She said hugging all her friends.

"C'mon, I think they're waiting for you." Coach Bedolla said, leading her to the announcers booth. There they were awarding the top five surfers out there today. Robert was awarded with third place. He stood there in his spot with an award-winning smile, knowing he did deserve it. And for Sam, well, she ended up with first place. Her first competition and she pulled out a shove-it move that blew away the judges. She was overwhelmed with excitement she barely noticed anyone other than her own team.

"And that concludes our Winter invitational everyone." The announcer said. Coach Bedolla started walking back to their school's area, when they were stopped by several photographers and journalists. They all stopped to take several pictures of Sam, and ask her what it felt like to be the only girl out there, and how she was able to go home with first place. This was all new to Sam, but she was never shy in front of a camera and never ran away from an interview. When she returned to her team, they were still happy that they had two teammates that made the top five.

Bradin waited until everyone else had given Sam hugs and compliments to approach her. "You did great Sam!" He said, giving her the biggest hug in the world.

She smiled, looking into his eyes. "Thanks Bradin." She said, then remembered her dad wasn't too far away.

"Hey." She heard someone behind her as she turned to see Robert standing there. "You did an awesome job today." He said, half smiling.

Was Sam hearing this correctly? Was Robert, the guy who gave her a hard time about being a girl complimenting her?

"Wow, thanks Robert." She said shaking his hand. "You did great too." She smiled.

"Thanks." He smiled. "You're really good Sam. I'm glad you're on our team." He smiled at both Bradin and Sam and walked off to gather his things up. Bradin and Sam looked at each other in amazement about what he Robert just did.

"I'm so proud of you." Maka said, giving Sam another hug.

"Hey Sam." Ava said, walking up to Sam with the whole clan behind her. "We saw you out there and you were terrific!" She smiled.

"Thanks, I'm so surprised I was able to pull it off." She said.

Sam stepped to the side. "Oh, this is my dad, Maka." She said, introducing him to Ava.

"It's nice to finally meet you. We've heard so much about Sam from Bradin." Ava said politely.

"Same here." Maka said, shaking her hand. Bradin and Sam introduced everyone else to each other. Sam thought it was one of the best days ever. She got to surf, and she got first place, she got to spend time with Bradin, and both of their families finally got to meet. All she could think of was how happy she was along with all the good things that were happening at that moment. She hoped that feeling would last for a long time.

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Line up: Area in the water where all the surfers wait to catch waves.

Goofy foot: Surfing term for placing your right foot in front of your left. Usually surfers have their left foot in front.

Cutback: Surfing term that refers to when you reverse the direction you were going in one smooth move.

Slash: Surfing term meaning a rapid turn off the wave; sometimes throwing spray of the waves off the top.

Shove-it: Maneuver of the board rotating either 180 or 360 degrees underneath your feet.


	9. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

The word got out about the surfing competition around school, and on Monday, everyone was talking about it. Random people that Sam didn't even know started to walk up to her and congratulate her on winning first place. Rachel, the school newspaper's head columnist even asked Sam to meet her during lunch so she could interview Sam about surfing. Just one surf meet made the school go up in a craze about the surf team, and how their only girl was named their best surfer.

"So, how does it feel to be the only girl on the surf team?" Rachel asked. "And not to mention the only girl that was competing on Saturday, and you took first place even." She had her tape recorder pointing towards Sam.

Sam smiled. "Well, it's not really anything." She said.

Rachel scrunched up her eyebrows. "What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"I mean," Sam tried to find the right words. "Being a girl on the team doesn't mean that I'm different from any of the other guys. I just happen to be the only girl that loves to surf so much that I'm not intimidated by the other guys that I surf with them." Sam told her as Rachel nodded her head. "As for winning first place, that I wasn't expecting." She smiled as they both laughed.

"Did you expect to do so well?"

Sam shook her head and smiled. "Not really. Since it was my first competition for a school, I wasn't sure if it'd be like the other ones I've been in." She said.

"So you were in other competitions before?" Rachel asked curiously.

Sam nodded her head. "I used to compete back home in Hawaii before I moved up here. I didn't have a surf team at my old school, so I just surfed with local sponsors and everything." She explained. "But this was my first school competition. So I just got on my board and hoped for the best." Sam smiled. Rachel asked Sam a few more questions on being from Hawaii, how long she's surfed and how she got started. Rachel told her that the article she was writing would be out in next weeks edition of the school newspaper.

After school Sam had regular surf practice, so she quickly left school to go home and get her things and went to practice. Coach Bedolla wanted to talk to both Robert and Sam when they got there. By the time Robert showed up, there were already some of the other guys in the water practicing.

"Okay." Coach Bedolla said, walking over to both Robert and Sam who were standing off to the side. "Since you two did so well on Saturday, you're getting today and Wednesday off." He told them.

Both Sam and Robert looked at each, somewhat shocked their coach was letting them off the hook for a few days. "Really?" Sam asked.

Coach Bedolla nodded his head. "Yep. After Saturday, I got a few phone calls from the management that put together the invitational on Saturday." He began to explain to them. "They were so impressed by you two that they'd like to do an interview and take some photos for their magazine they put out every month." He said.

Robert looked as if he was about to pass out when Coach Bedolla told them. "What?" He gasped. "Are you serious?" He asked, looking at Sam who was also smiling.

"You mean it?" Sam asked, still shocked about the whole thing.

"You bet." Coach Bedolla smiled. "They wanna meet you guys at Shark's Point this Saturday." He gave both of them a hug and let them skip today's practice. They were still both shocked and surprised about what Coach Bedolla told them.

About a half hour into practice, Robert saw Avery walking up to them. "Great." He said and lightly slapped Bradin's shoulder which made him turn to see Avery.

"What?" Sam said, following Bradin's glare towards her left. And sure enough it was Avery with his 'million dollar' smile.

"Hey Sam." Avery said.

Sam stood up uncomfortably. "Hi." She said. Robert and Bradin stood up as well.

"So, I heard you took first place this weekend." He said. "That's awesome, since it was your first competition, right?"

"Well, no." She said. "I've been in competitions before, just not for a school team." She explained.

"Oh." Robert said, not expecting to be proven wrong. "Well, maybe I can take you out to a victory dinner sometime." He said and gave Sam the sweetest smile.

Robert and Bradin looked at each other, both ready to pound Avery to the ground. "What do you want?" Robert said bluntly.

Avery turned to Robert. "I think I was talking to the _first place_ winner, not the _third place_." He smirked.

"What did you say?" Robert said, taking a few steps closer to Avery.

"You heard me." Avery stepped closer to Robert. They were both ready to beat the crap out of each other right there, and they would've, if Bradin didn't step in.

"Hey!" He said loudly. "Cut it out man." He stepped between them. "We don't need coach getting' on our case about it." He said to Robert who backed off.

Avery looked at Bradin. "Was I talking to you Westerly?" Avery snapped.

Bradin tried not to get mad at Avery when he took a deep breath. "Look man, will you just get out of here?" Bradin tried to ask calmly.

"And what if I don't want to?" Avery replied.

"Then we'll just have to do somethin' about it." Robert said, pushing Avery by the shoulders. Robert and Avery then went for each other, pushing and shoving one another back and forth.

"Hey!" Sam yelled which made them both stop. "Will you just chill out!" She said loudly.

Avery caught his breath. "And let this punk go, don't think so." He said, then pushed Robert back a few feet. They continued to push each other around while Sam and Bradin tried to pull them off each other.

"HEY!" Coach Bedolla said, running up to them. "Got a problem here?" He asked loudly. Robert and Avery stopped pushing each other and backed away.

Robert dusted his clothes off. "No Coach." He said softly, then glared at Avery.

"Good." Coach Bedolla said.

Avery straightened his shirt and grinned. "Don't think this is over Livingston." He said and glared at Robert who glared back. "You too Westerly." He snickered then turned to Sam. "Maybe we can still grab a bite to eat Sam." He said as she scoffed. He gave Robert and Bradin one last glare and turned away.

Coach Bedolla looked at the three of them for a few moments. "Sam, can I talk to you over here?" He asked, gesturing to walk with him. Sam followed him, and Robert and Bradin watched Avery walk down the beach.

"God I hate him." Robert said in disgust.

"What the hell was his problem?" Bradin blurted out.

Robert looked at Avery, then turned to Bradin. "Bradin." He said, calling Bradin's attention. "Do you like Sam?" He asked him plainly.

Bradin looked at Sam then smiled slightly. "Why, is it that obvious?"

"Kinda man." He said as they both smiled. "I'm just sayin' that, uh, Avery might like her too you know?" He said. "So, if you're wanting more between you and Sam, you better do something soon. Before he does." He said.

"Yeah." Bradin said quietly.

"Besides, I really don't wanna see Sam with that jackass." He said, gesturing in Avery's direction.

Bradin smiled. "You're right. I've gotta do something." He said and looked at Sam.

"Sam." Coach Bedolla looked at her. "Was he bothering you?" He asked her.

"He's just some creep in one of my classes." She told him.

Coach Bedolla nodded his head. "Some of the other boys told me he has this thing against surfers or something."

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

"So if he ever bothers you again…" He told her.

"Don't worry Coach." She reassured him. "I can take care of him. He's just got this deranged idea that I'm interested in him, which I'm so totally not." She said. "Besides, the other guys would like to beat the crap out of him, so I'm sure if he bothered me again, they'd be all up on him." She said as they both laughed.

Coach Bedolla smiled. "Okay, but just let me know if he does anything to hurt you okay?" He said, very concerned for Sam.

"No problem." She answered.

The rest of the guys on the surf team found out about the little scrap that went on between Robert, Avery and Bradin. Needless to say, none of them liked Avery, but this made them hate him even more. Throughout the entire week they exchanged glares and stares with Avery every time one of them saw him. Sam didn't like being in class with him, and she really hated the fact that she always started her days off by seeing him. Even though he acted like a total jerk at the beach, he still talked to Sam as if none of it had happened; as if he was a perfect Prince with no flaws. Sam tried to ignore him as best as she could, but she couldn't help it if he tried his hardest to make sure Sam noticed him.

Saturday came and both Robert and Sam were excited to go to their interview. Coach Bedolla also went along with them, and left a substitute coach with the rest of the boys to practice that day. Robert and Sam were both interviewed for about a half an hour. They asked them questions about surfing, why the like it, how long they've been doing it, basically the 411 on their surfing interests. After, they wanted to take some snapshots of the two of them in and out of the water. So Sam and Robert posed for the camera together and individually on the sand with their surfboards. Then they went in the water to get some action shots of them surfing. By the end of the day, both Robert and Sam were thrilled that they did this.

Coach Bedolla drove them back to their teams practice, and everyone wanted to know everything that they did. It was an exciting moment for the entire team; since their teammates would be mentioned in a surfing magazine. Bradin was excited for Sam, knowing that she really did deserve all that she was getting. But he still wasn't sure how to make their relationship more 'official', as Lucas had put it. That was something Bradin still needed to work on, and fast.


	10. Quick Update! Please read!

Quick Update…

Okay, so I hope you guys are liking my story. I've been getting a lot of reviews, thank you guys sooo much for them! You have no idea how much I appreciate them. I just updated chapter 8, so I hope you like it. It's not a very exciting chapter like the other ones, one of the dull chapters I think. 

But…I'm starting school on Thursday and 18th, so I'm not going to have as much time to write and update my fanfic. I wish I didn't have to go to school, but unfortunately some person made a stupid law saying that kids have to. So, I'm letting you know that I won't be posting as many chapters up that much anymore.

I'll try really hard to find time in between homework and all that junk to write, and I'm planning on posting at least one new chapter each week.

So check back and see when I update. I hope this delay with my chapters doesn't scare you away and stop you from reading, 'cause I really want you guys to read it and enjoy it! So, I'll try my best to update whenever I can! Thanks again for reading it, it's mean a lot.

-good-fortune14


	11. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

On Wednesday, the next school paper was out, and by lunch time, everyone had their hands on a copy of it. Since the surf meet two weekends ago, they all wanted to read the article Rachel had done on Sam and surfing. Bradin, Sam, Lucas, the two Hart brothers and Daniel all gathered at their lunch table and read through the article.

"Who said that women can't make it in an men's profession?" Lucas quoted Rachel's article. "Where is it written that only men can do certain things, especially when speaking about sports? Well, for this junior, Samantha Kupihea has proven all those stereotypes of women completely wrong." He said as they all smiled.

Tracy began reading the next paragraph. "As far as I know, surfing takes a lot of time, effort, and hard work. Not only physically, but also mentally. "You have to be in the right mindset for starters. You can't go out there only for the glory, you need to really love what you're doing to get the best out of it." Samantha explains about how she prepares before a competition." Tracy looked at Sam.

"Wow, you're all up in this thing Sam." He told her as they all smiled. Each of the boys took turns reading the article out loud to Sam. The article took up about three-fourths of the page, including a picture of Sam. Towards the end of the article, Bradin paused.

"And check out how photogenic she is." He said, smiling at Sam.

Sam smiled innocently. "What can I say? I love the camera." She told them, making each one of them chuckle.

"Okay, now for the big finish." Bradin said, taking in a deep breath. He looked down at the last paragraph and began to read.

"But when asked about being the only girl on the team, Sam knew exactly how to answer that. "Being a girl on the team doesn't mean that I'm different from any of the other guys." Sam feels that even though she may be a girl, she's still treated and seen as one of the guys, another teammate, no different from anyone else. "I don't want any special treatment just because I'm a girl. Nor do I want people to think I can't handle the intensity of the sport. Being the only girl just gives me the responsibility of encouraging other girls to try out for sports that are seen as guy sports. If you love something, then you should go for it."

The way I see it, Sam is setting a good example for all the girls out there. To take an interest in something and to stick to it no matter what comes your way. Sam, along with all the other surfers have the determination and strength to put their heart and soul into doing things they love. We can only hope that more people in the world will follow Sam's footsteps to take a risk, and stand up to every roadblock that comes your way so that you can enjoy something you love." Bradin put down the paper and looked at Sam. "That was excellent." He said softly.

Sam smiled. "Wow, I didn't know she was gonna make it sound so fancy." She told them.

Sean wiped his eyes and sniffled. "That-that really touched me Sam." He pretended he was crying. "That touched me deep down in my soul." He joked as he held his hand up against his chest.

"Cut it out Sean." Lucas said, slapping his arm. "But seriously Sam." Lucas turned to her. "That was awesome."

"Thanks guys." Sam smiled sweetly.

After lunch Lucas and Bradin left the same time to talk. "So, what are you gonna do?" Lucas asked Bradin about his Sam problem.

"I don't know." Bradin answered. "I was thinking I could ask her out this weekend." He told him.

"Really? Like in a real date? Not just to hang out and have pizza?" Lucas asked.

Bradin shrugged. "Yeah man. I mean, do you think she'd say yes?" Bradin sounded very nervous talking about Sam.

Lucas smirked. "Well you two have been spending a lot of time together. And it kinda seems she does like you." He told Bradin. "A lot."

Bradin smiled. "Really?" Bradin nodded his head and thought for a few seconds. "Okay, I'll ask her about this weekend."

"You sure you're gonna do this?" Lucas asked. "I mean, don't chicken out or something like that."

Bradin rolled his eyes. "No, I won't. I really wanna do this." He finally said, making his final decision about asking Sam out on a date.

Bradin had asked Ava about it that night, but she was a bit hesitant about it. She wanted Bradin to do well this coming semester, and she didn't want him distracted in any way. But she remembered what Jay, Susannah and Colby had said to her about letting Bradin do things on his own. So she told him that he could ask her out on a date for Saturday. Of course Bradin was thrilled and thankful that she said it was okay, but now he had to think of how to ask Sam. Bradin planned on asking Sam the next day at school, but choked up whenever he saw her. The only day left was Friday after school at practice. He knew that it was either ask her now, or possibly have Avery ask her. And that was something he definitely didn't want to happen. After practice, Bradin walked up to Sam just before she started to head home.

"Hey Sam, can I ask you something?" Bradin walked up to Sam.

Sam looked at Bradin. "Sure."

Other members of the surf team passed by them, and Bradin waited until they were gone to ask her. "So, I was wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow?" He asked as she put her backpack on.

"Um, I don't think I am?" She answered. "Why?" She asked, already smiling.

Bradin cleared his throat. "Uh, well," He tried to say. Sam could tell that Bradin was nervous and uncomfortable, and she had an idea about what he was going to ask her. "I wanted to know if you'd like to-" He paused suddenly, then smiled. "If you'd like to go out with me, tomorrow night." He finally asked her. He felt good for finally getting that off his chest.

"You mean, like a date?" Sam asked, already knowing the answered.

Bradin nodded his head. "Yeah, like a date." He blushed.

Sam smiled and looked into Bradin's eyes. "I'd love to." She told him.

"Great." Bradin said with excitement. They both stood there smiling at each other for a few moments until Lucas called to Bradin. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow then." Bradin said to her.

"Okay. Bye Bradin." She smiled.

"Bye." He replied. He walked backwards, still smiling at Sam until he almost fell into a sand-hole. Sam quietly laughed as Bradin blushed even more. She watched him meet up with Lucas and saw Lucas slap Bradin's hand and applaud him on asking her. She took a deep breath, thinking about what had just happened. She had just been asked out by a cute, sweet and fun guy, he asked her out for her first real date.

On the way home, Sam couldn't help but smile and think of Bradin. She wasn't quite sure what her dad would say about it, but for now, that didn't matter. All that mattered was that she was finally asked out on a date that she wanted to go on.

"Hello, dad, you home?" Sam called from the door. She took her slippers off and dumped her bag by the door and stood her surfboard up against the wall. "Dad?" She repeated. Then she heard a voice from the living room.

"Sorry, no dad here." Sam recognized that voice and went running into the living room.

She stopped suddenly when she saw her older brother Matt waiting for her. "Matt!" She screamed as she ran to him to give him a hug.

"Hey Sam." He said to her, giving her an equally big hug. They hugged for a long moment before Sam let go of her grip on him.

"What in the world are you doing here?" She finally asked, stepping back a little.

Matt smiled. "Well, I studied early and took my finals a week early so I could come here." He told her.

Sam couldn't stop smiling. "Does dad know you're here?" She asked him.

He nodded. "Yep, how'd you think I got in?" He asked her slyly, taking out a key from his pocket and waving it in her face.

"So he knew about it all this time?" She said, somewhat mad that her dad didn't tell her, but still happy her brother was there. "So typical of you two, hiding secrets from me." She said, making the two of them laugh. "Oh, but I'm still stoked you're here!" She said, hugging him once more.

A little after that, Maka came walking in. "Hey guys." He said, taking his jacket off. "I guess you've found your surprise, huh Sam?" He teased.

"I can't believe you knew and you didn't tell me!" She said to her dad.

Matt laughed. "She was totally flippin' out when she saw me." He said.

"Really?" Maka asked while laughing. "Well I'm glad you're here." He said, hugging his son. "But I hope you know your things aren't unpacked, not all of it."

Matt shook his head. "That's okay dad. All I need are my sunglasses and my stick, and I'm good to go." He replied as they all laughed. "Which reminds me," He said turning to Sam. "How are the waves up here?" He asked her.

Sam lifted her hand up and rocked it from side to side. "Ah, it's okay out there." She smiled. "Not as good as Pipe's though." She said.

"How's the surf team you told me about?" Matt asked her.

"It's pretty good." She answered. "Better than I thought it would be."

Matt smiled and patted Sam on the head. "That's good, at least you're enjoying yourself out here." He replied. They all took a shower and got dinner ready. They talked about school for Sam and Matt, as well as Maka's job at the radio station. Sam knew that she had to tell her dad about her date with Bradin, so she decided to do it now, instead of tomorrow right before he showed up.

"Uh, dad. I haftah tell you something." She said, clearing her throat.

Matt and Maka looked at each other, suspicious about what Sam was getting at. "What is it?" Maka asked her, taking a good long look at her.

"Well, you know Bradin." She started off.

He nodded. "Yes, I know Bradin, good kid."

Maka looked at the two of them. "Who's Bradin?" He asked.

Sam looked at him. "He's this guy on my surf team from school." She said.

"How come you never told me about him before?" He asked sternly.

Sam nervously smiled. "Well, I didn't think it was that important." She turned back to her dad and smiled. "Well, umm…" She said. She looked at both her dad and brother. Both of them didn't seem to like where any of this was heading to, so she just plainly told them.

"Bradin asked me out on a date for tomorrow night, and I said yes." She looked at her dad, waiting for him to blow up like a rocket ship.

Maka looked at his plate and blinked several times. Taking a deep breath, he looked at Sam. "A date?" He questioned her.

"Yeah, I date." Sam told him.

"Well." Maka said, not knowing what else to say. Sam could tell that she caught her dad totally off guard, which wasn't too smart on her part. As for her brother, he looked lost, now knowing who this Bradin kid was. But he didn't like Bradin already.

"So?" Sam pressed her dad on the subject.

Maka looked at Sam. "Well, I think if you want to, you can go." He said, trying to smile.

Both Sam and Matt looked shocked. "Seriously?" She asked him, not sure if he was kidding or being serious.

He nodded. "Yes. Bradin seems like a good kid." He said, then turning to Matt. "He's doing well in school, he's agreed to spend time at the house to get to know Sam, his family is very well-grounded. He's a good kid." Maka said.

"Are you sure dad?" Matt asked, taking the older brother role seriously.

"Yes, I'm sure." He said and smiled at Sam.

She jumped out of her seat. "Oh thank you dad!" She squealed. "Thank you so much!" She said and kissed him on the cheek. She took all three of their plates and went into the kitchen to wash the dishes.

"Dad, are you sure? I don't even know the guy." Matt told him. "I think being the brother, I should know him first."

Maka looked at him skeptically. "Matt, you haven't been around to get to know him. I have, and he seems okay." He said. "Trust me, I want the best for Sam, just like you do. But Sam's growing up Matt, and we can't always protect her the way we want to." He turned to see Sam in the kitchen. "We have to let her do things on her own."

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Stoked: Both surfing term and Pidgin meaning _very happy_.

Stick: Slang word for a surfboard

Pipe's: Also known as Pipeline; very popular surfing spot in Hawaii


	12. Chapter 10

Authors note: Oh my gosh! I've been trying to log in for two weeks almost, and I couldn't get in! I pressed the log in button, then I got this page that said I "have to be logged in to access this page" stuff. Weird. But here's a new chapter that's took too long to be posted.

Chapter 10

Saturday was the day of Bradin and Sam's date, but first they had to get through a day of practice. The entire time, Bradin and Sam couldn't stop talking to each other. And when they weren't talking, they were smiling like crazy at each other. Even when Sam was out the in the water, she couldn't help but look back to shore to see Bradin smiling at her. After practice, Bradin wanted to get the times right, so he asked her one last time.

"So, 7:00?" He said nervously, fidgeting with his shirt.

"Yeah, 7;00." Sam agreed. "But you do know you'll haftah go through my dad _and_ my brother." She warned him.

"Yeah, you told me. But I already met your dad, so I just gotta make it past your brother." He said.

Sam nodded. "True, but sometimes my brother can be more protective than my dad." She told him. "But I'm sure he'll like you." She gleamed.

Bradin smiled brightly. "Great, I'll see you then." He said as she nodded and smiled back. Sam got her things together and headed back home. Bradin was then surrounded by all his friends on the surf team.

"So, tonight's the big night huh?" Tracy said, leaning on Bradin's shoulder.

"You finally asked her out, good move man." Robert commented.

Bradin looked at all of them huddled around him. "Lucas, you told all of them?" He asked suspiciously.

Lucas smiled. "Hey man, it's a big thing, for all of us. It's been so obvious that you and Sam got the hots for each other. So we all should celebrate this achievement of yours too." He said laughing.

On the way home, Sam saw Krystal, the girl that Lucas was almost, if not already going out with. "Hey Krystal." Sam smiled.

"Hey Sam." Krystal replied. "So Lucas told me you and Bradin are going out on your first date tonight." She said.

Sam blushed. "Yeah, I guess you found out about that."

"So, what are you gonna wear?" She asked excitingly. Being a girly girl she was, Krystal had to find out about these things.

"Umm." Sam pondered. She hadn't really given it much thought. "I don't really know. I didn't think much about it." She confessed.

Krystal gleamed of happiness. "How about I go over to your house and help you find something to wear?" She offered cheerfully.

Sam smiled then looked at Krystal. "Okay." Sam agreed, with a bit of satisfaction in her voice. Sam did want to look nice for Bradin, something different from her ordinary look.

Sam and Krystal went back to Sam's house, and on their way there they were already talking about things for Sam to wear.

"Hey dad." Sam said opening the door. She put her things down and walked Krystal to the living room to meet her dad. "Dad, this is Krystal." She introduced them to each other.

"Hi Mr. Kupihea." Krystal said politely.

"It's nice to meet you Krystal." Maka smiled and gave her a hug.

Krystal looked a little startled when Maka hugged her. "Oh, it's just a local custom in Hawaii. You give everyone hugs, for all kind of occasions, like when you first meet someone." Sam explained to Krystal. "She's gonna help me pick something out to wear tonight." Sam said, smiling.

Maka winced. "Well, I suppose you would like to look your best, if you have to." He said, somewhat sarcastically.

Sam dropped her shoulders and pouted. "Wow, thanks dad, it's good to know you care."

"Well what can I say? I'm a dad, and I don't want any boy taking you away from me." He said and kissed the top of her head. "You guys make some lunch, I've got some errands to run." He said. "It was nice meeting you Krystal." He said, heading towards the door.

"You too Mr. K." She said cheerfully.

"And maybe you can help Sam look a little bit more like a girl for her date, if you know what I mean." He teased.

Sam glared at her dad. "Haha, very funny. Not." Maka laughed and waved goodbye. Sam and Krystal got some lunch and ate it in the living room while watching some TV.

"So, are you nervous?" Krystal asked Sam.

Sam nodded and smiled slightly. "Sorta. I mean, it's Bradin, and I've been hangin' out with him for a while now. But just having tonight labeled as a 'date' is weird." She told her. They finished up their lunch and took their plates to the kitchen, when Matt came home.

"Anyone home?" He called from the door.

"In here." Sam replied.

Matt heard Sam and walked into the kitchen. "Hey Sam." He said, only then noticing Krystal. "Hi." He said to her.

"Hi." She smiled.

"Oh." Sam said, turning the faucet off. "Krystal this is my brother Matt, Matt this is Krystal." She introduced them to each other.

"Nice to meet you." Matt said, giving her a hug. Krystal was somewhat surprised again that she was getting hugged by a complete stranger.

Sam walked past Matt. "We'll be upstairs if you need us." She told him, then started to walk away.

"Shoots." He said, opening the refrigerator.

Krystal followed Sam up the stairs. "Ya know, your brother's kinda cute." She said, making Sam stop walking abruptly. Sam stared at Krystal as if she was insane. "But I think I'd stick with Lucas." She said.

"Good choice." Sam replied.

They went up to Sam room, and when Krystal walked in she stopped at the door way. "Wow, your room is so awesome." She said, gazing at everything in the room. There was her dresser that had pictures all on it. Her bookshelf was filled with books, magazines, yearbooks and old notebooks she used as journals. She had a small area for bags and hats hanging on her wall. There were several shelves above her dresser and spread out throughout the room with trophies placed on them. Her closet doors were decorated in glow in the dark stars spelling out "Sam" on one door and "Keepin it real" on the other. Her bed was neatly made with stuffed animals on her pillows. Her desk had a nice stack of her school books and notebooks.

"It's kinda cluttered though." Sam replied, walking over to her closet. She opened both doors to show everything that was inside. "Not much, but some stuff we could use." She told Krystal.

After Krystal walked around the whole room, she moved over to the closet. She saw at least three pairs of skateboarding shoes, two sneakers, along with three different kinds of sandals. Sam kept these shoes in her closet because she rarely wore them out. She had a small box of things she didn't put up in her room in one corner of the closet. Krystal fingered through the hanging clothes to find a few dresses, a couple of skirts, blouses, aloha shirts, muumuu's, some over-shirts Sam wore before to school and several hooded jackets.

Krystal stepped back and looked at everything in the closet. "Wow." She said. "You have some really nice stuff Sam." She complimented.

Sam smiled and sat on her bed. "Thanks. I don't really wear most of 'em though." She told her. "I'm usually just in shorts and a t-shirt."

"Okay." Krystal turned to Sam. "So, what do you want to wear? Do you have a kind of look you have in mind?" She asked.

"Well." Sam pondered. "I'm not really a big dress fan." She told Krystal. "I only wear dresses if I absolutely have to, or I'm in the mood to. But I rarely am." She smiled.

"Okay. No dresses." Krystal replied. "What about skirts?" She asked. "You have some really nice, but simple skirts you could wear. Not too fancy, but still nice and casual." Krystal sounded like a fashion designer.

Sam tilted her head from side to side. "Yeah, skirts are okay." She said. Krystal pulled out about three different skirts from the closet and placed them on the bed next to Sam.

"Do you have any jeans you'd rather wear?" Krystal asked. Sam nodded and opened up her dresser drawer. She pulled out five different pairs of jeans she had and laid them out on the bed.

"Ooh, I like this one." Krystal smiled, reaching for one that had stars stitched on the back pockets and down the side of the legs. She chose two other jeans and put the other two back. "Okay, so we have possible bottoms for you to wear. Now, lets do the tops." She said smiling.

Sam and Krystal went through blouses and shirts that were decent enough for a first date. After that they worked on what shoes or sandals to wear. Krystal then was excited to start working on accessories for Sam. In the end, they picked out three skirts and jeans, two different shoes and sandals, four shirts, two over-shirts, several accessories Krystal liked, and one versatile jacket with a zipper down the middle that would go with anything. Sam went to go take a quick shower to get the ocean smell out of her hair. When she came out, Krystal had narrowed everything down to two different outfits.

"Okay, so I have one outfit with a skirt, and one with jeans." She explained as Sam towel dried her hair. "This one has the brown flared skirt with your turquoise top, and your black sandals. Here's a necklace and some earrings." She showed Sam the first outfit on her bed. "Okay, and this is a bit more casual than the other one." She began to say. "Here's the pretty star jeans." She smiled. "I really like the stars." She said as they both laughed. "Here's a white tank top with a lavender over-shirt to wear, a nice matching star belt and your purple shoes." She showed Sam. Krystal stepped back to let Sam look at the choices she had, and she could tell that Sam liked what she picked out.

"Krystal, this is awesome." She said, giving her a hug. "I would have never came up with any of this." She smiled. "Thanks Krystal." She said sweetly.

"No problem." She replied. They talked more about the different clothing that Krystal had picked out, and Krystal also chose some other accessories Sam might want to use. It was about 6:30, and Sam finally chose the outfit she wanted to wear. She chose the casual jean outfit, since she didn't want to look too dressy, but she still wanted to be herself. She changed into the jeans, belt and tops and put her purple shoes on. Krystal helped her with her hair. Sam wanted it to be something casual and simple, yet still nice. So Krystal put her hair up in a half up half down ponytail. Sam put on her crystal stud earrings while Krystal picked out a shade of lip gloss for Sam to wear. Within a matter of minutes, Sam was ready for her date. She took one look in her mirror and couldn't believe who she saw.

"Wow, I can't believe this is me." Sam said out loud, shocked about how she looked. She and Krystal went downstairs into the living room where her dad and brother were waiting. When Sam went in the living room both her brother and dad were shocked.

"Sam." Her dad said, standing up. "You look wonderful." He said, giving her a hug.

Matt stood up as well. "Geez, that looks nothing like you." He teased.

Sam smirked. "Real funny Matt." She said, hugging her brother despite his bad insult.

"I gotta admit Krystal, you did a great job." Maka said.

"Thanks Mr. K." She smiled. "Well, I better get goin'. I hope you have a great time Sam." She said, giving her a hug.

"Thank you so much for everything Krystal." Sam smiled. Krystal said her goodbyes to all the Kupihea's and headed home. It was almost 7:00 and both Bradin and Sam were getting very excited.

"Bradin, do you have everything?" Ava called to him, walking down the stairs into the living room area.

"Yes." He replied, trying to stay relaxed. "I'll be alright." He said as she walked up to him.

Ava took a good look at Bradin, then straightened his jacket on his shoulders. "Are you sure?" She acted like a worried mother.

Susannah and Jay walked in. "Oh Ava stop being such a mother." Susannah teased.

"The boy will be fine." Jay added. "He really likes this girl, I can tell." He said, winking at Bradin.

"Well, have a great time Bradin." Nikki called from the staircase. "Don't do anything stupid." She warned him as he glared at her.

"Thanks Nikki." He replied, not amused with her comment.

Derrick got up from the coach and walked over to Bradin. "Have a good time Bradin." He smiled. "I really like this girl, so make sure it works." He said, making them all laugh.

"I really like her too." He said smiling. "I better get going." He finally told them, heading towards the door.

"Okay, but if you need anything-" Ava said in a worried voice.

"Aunt Ava." Bradin turned to her. "I'll be fine. And trust me, I'm gonna do it the right way this time." He gave her a gentle smile then kissed her on the cheek.

Ava smiled. "Have a good time." She said as he opened the door and left.

Ava walked back into the living room and sat down on the couch. "Don't worry, he'll be fine." Susannah said, resting her hand on Ava's shoulder.

Since Bradin had yet to get his license, he had to walk to Sam's house, and in a matter of ten minutes he was there. He ringed the doorbell, already feeling his stomach tie up in knots.

"No funny stuff Matt." She said one last time before she went to the door.

"What are you talking about?" He called to her.

She quickly turned around. "You know what I mean." She glared. She calmly walked to the door, breathing steadily. She took a deep breath and opened the door. She saw Bradin and they immediately looked at each other.

"Hi Bradin." Sam smiled.

"Hey." He said sweetly. He looked at Sam and couldn't help but notice how different she looked. "You look great." He said in awe. She was wearing her regular jeans and shoes, and tops she's worn before. Her wavy hair nicely fell down her back, letting the wavy ends in the ponytail fall nicely on her shoulders. Her earrings sparkled, and her lips were lightly coated with lip gloss. He'd seen her wear all those things before, just never all at once. He took a moment and looked at her once again.

"You look wonderful." He said with a sweet sincerity in his voice.

Sam couldn't help but smile and blush at the same time. "Thanks." She replied.

Bradin cleared his throat. "Uh, this is for you." He said, pulling out a single red rose from behind his back. He gave it to Sam as their fingers touched each others.

"Bradin, it's beautiful." She said, smelling the rose he just gave her. They smiled at each other for a moment more until she invited him in. She led him to the living room where her dad and brother were waiting.

"Bradin, this is my brother Matt." She said, introducing the two of them.

Matt stood up and walked over to Bradin. "It's nice to meet you Bradin." He said, offering his hand.

"It's good to meet you too Matt." Bradin replied, shaking Matt's hand.

"You've got a quite a grip there." Matt observed, stepping back and folding his hands across his chest.

Bradin looked at Sam then to Matt. "Thanks, I think." He said, feeling the tension coming from Matt.

Sam looked at Matt as if he'd just committed a crime. She then took a breath and turned to her dad. "I'm gonna put this in water. I'll be right back." She said, smiling at Bradin then quickly walking to the kitchen.

Bradin stood in front of them uncomfortably, not knowing what to say or do. "So, Sam told me you just got in yesterday." He said, trying to make small talk.

Matt nodded. "Yep, got in from college. I took my finals early." He said briefly. He looked at Bradin as if he was a police security officer inspecting random citizens. "You planning to go college someday?" He asked, sounding like a father.

"Uh, yes." Bradin said, caught off guard by that question. "I was thinking maybe going back home to Kansas after I'm done with high school here. Or if I can't do that, then I'd look into a local college in the area." He said quickly, wondering where Sam was. Matt continued to ask Bradin all kinds of questions, until Sam finally came back.

"Sorry, my brother just thinks he's the father in this family." She told Bradin, glaring at Matt.

"I was just getting to know Bradin." Matt replied.

Maka laughed. "He's always been like this, even with boys who didn't want to date Sam." He told Bradin.

"What can I say, I'm protective." Matt said. "Do you know have a younger sister Bradin?" Matt asked him.

Bradin nodded his head. "Yes, I have one younger sister and a brother.

"Then you know what it's like to have the feeling of protecting her?"

"Yeah, my sister's got this, I guess you'd call her a boyfriend." He told them, speaking of Cameron.

Matt smiled slightly. "Then you must know what I'm getting at?" He nodded.

"Absolutely." Bradin answered.

Finding out that Bradin was also an older brother of a girl was comforting to Matt. He knew that Bradin must know what it's like to try and keep his sister safe. He did something Sam didn't expect him to do at all: he smiled. "Well, you guys have fun then." He finally told them.

"Thanks dad." Sam said to Matt. "I'll see you guys later." She said, giving her brother and dad a hug.

"It was great meeting you Matt, and it's good to see you again Mr. K." Bradin said, shaking hands with both of them.

Sam waved goodbye and led Bradin to the door. "Bye guys." She called to them. Matt and Maka watched them leave.

"I guess he's okay." Matt finally said. "He seems alright."

"I think he is too." Maka added.

Bradin closed the door behind him. "Ready?" He asked and smiled at Sam.

She smiled back. "Sure am." She said, and they both walked together to start what would hopefully be one of the best nights of their lives. This was it, the moment they were both waiting for for a long time. For Sam, this would be her first real date, let alone with a guy she really liked. And for Bradin, tonight was a night of proving to everyone that's he's changed his ways and was ready to start a new chapter in his life. Hopefully this would be a start to something great for the both of them to enjoy together.

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Muumuu: Hawaiian style/print dressed.


	13. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Sam and Bradin walked along the pier for about half an hour, just talking together. The sun was just barely down when Bradin led them to a place Sam had never been before.

"Bradin, where are we going?" She asked curiously. She looked around and saw people walking around in jeans and jackets, as if it was snowing.

Bradin smiled. "Well, since it is December, it would be snowing in other places. But since it doesn't snow here in Playa Linda, or Hawaii." He said, looking at Sam who was smiling at him. "I thought I'd take you somewhere where you could get a little bit of the wintery feeling." He walked her around the block when they arrived at an ice skating rink. Sam stopped and looked at the big sign on top of the building reading "Ice Palace" with a white skate next to it.

"This is awesome." She said, looking at Bradin. They stood there, smiling at each other for a few moments. Bradin went to get two tickets to go in to get skates, and they went in. When they walked in there was loud music playing, kids running around, parents sitting down eating, and teenagers playing video games and heading out onto the ice. It was cold inside, and Sam started to rub her arms since she didn't have a jacket.

"Oh, here." Bradin said, taking off his jacket. "Use mine." He said, putting it on her. "I should've told you to bring a jacket, but I didn't wanna give the surprise away." He smiled.

"That's okay." She smiled back. Bradin was wearing a long sleeved shirt underneath his jacket that looked especially warm. Sam liked the way that his jacket fit on her, and the way it fell nicely off her shoulders. She could feel the warmth in the jacket from his body. They got their skates and found an area to put them on. Bradin told Sam about how he would go to the ice skating rink in Kansas with Nikki and Derrick and how'd they play games out on the ice. They headed towards the ice to find many families and teenagers skating around. With a deep breath, they both stepped out on to the ice and slowly made their way around it. Sam hadn't been ice skating since summer back in Hawaii, but she still remembered how to do a few things on the ice. She and Bradin stopped on one side, catching their breaths.

"Wow, I haven't done this in a long time." Bradin commented.

"Me neither." Sam added.

Bradin moved away from the side wall and did a turn on the ice. "Hey, wasn't that good?" He said, sounding very proud of the slow motion turn he just demonstrated.

"Um…" Sam said, quietly laughing to herself, trying not to let Bradin see.

He stood up straight and crossed his arms. "Oh, well you think you can do better than that?" He challenged.

Sam stopped laughing and smiled. "Yeah, I think I can." She said, accepting his challenge. He skated back to the side and extended an arm gesturing to the ice.

"Hmph." Sam started skating out onto the ice. When she picked up enough speed, she started to lift her right leg up in the air and extended it so it was parallel with the ice. Her arms were extended to the right and up straight in the air. As she brought her arms down she skated more to pick up speed, then jumped up in the air and ended up landing on her right leg, facing backwards but going in the same direction. Just before she reached Bradin she slowed down and did several pirouette turns in front of him. She put her right leg down and skated out of the turns, then skated up to Bradin.

"How was that?" She offered, smiling brightly.

Bradin could only look at her in astonishment. As he watched her skate around the rink he couldn't believe that it was Sam doing it. He looked at her, still in shock that she had just done that. "Wow." He gasped. "I-I-I didn't know you could do that." He said in amazement.

"Well you never asked." She retorted, still smiling.

Bradin smiled. "Where'd you learn to do that?" He asked her, moving a little on the ice.

"I took dance for years. And one day I wanted to try some stuff out we learned in class out on the ice. I mean our dance instructor always told us ice skating was like dancing, just on ice." She told him.

"That was awesome." He said to her.

Sam smiled. "Thanks." They started heading off the ice so they could get some food to eat. Once they wobbled their way to the front of the line since they were still in their skates, Bradin ordered two drinks, a hamburger for himself, a slice of pizza for Sam, and onion rings for them to share.

"Oh, I'll get that." Sam said, taking her wallet out from her pocket.

Bradin shook his head. "No, I got it." He told her, taking out his own money.

Sam put her hand on his just before he gave the money to the cashier. "No, you paid for us to get in, I'll get the food." She insisted. "Call it even." She smiled, then handed the cashier the money. Bradin looked at Sam for a few moments and smiled. He didn't know of a single girl who wanted to pay for anything on their first date, so Sam was definitely the first.

After their food was ready, they found a table to sit at and eat. They took their time eating, and off and on they would look out on the ice and watch the games that were going on. They talked mostly, with several moments just looking at each other, smiling. Once they were done eating they headed back out to skate, and soon after that the DJ turned the lights off and used strobe lights and disco balls to light up the ice. All the kids and teenagers rushed out on the ice to skate in the dark. The DJ played B2K's "Take it to the Floor" to get everyone skating fast. Bradin and Sam skated together, and off and on would race each other down to the other side of the rink, which ended up with both of them laughing and almost falling over. The DJ played 5 more songs with the lights off, then turned them back on. Most of the kids replied with "Aww's" as they skated off the ice.

"Now for you guys, grab that special girl 'cause it's couple's only." The DJ announced over the P.A. system. Several teenager stayed on the as others came onto the ice.

Bradin looked at Sam and smiled. "May I have this skate?" He asked as they both laughed.

"Of course." Sam replied. Bradin took Sam's hand as they looked at each other and smiled. The DJ dimmed the lights and began to play Mandy Moore's "Only Hope." Bradin looked around and saw about 9 other couples out on the ice, but the only person he cared about was Sam. They skated slowly, smiling to themselves when they weren't smiling at each other. Sam and Bradin talked during the second song that played, so they weren't really paying any attention to it what was playing until the DJ stopped the music.

"Okay folks, this is our last couple's song we're playin' tonight." He announced. "Now guys get ready to sing them notes, 'cause this one is an oldie, but definitely a goodie." He said, and played the song. Everyone heard "My Girl" fill the rink, and parents even went out to skate to this song that they grew up with.

"Oh my gosh." Sam said, laughing.

Bradin smiled then turned to Sam. "I've got sunshine, on a cloudy day." He began to sing. "When it's cold outside, I've got the month of May."

Sam smiled. "Are you kidding me."

"I guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way? My girl." He sang to her as they skated around the rink. "Talkin' bout my girl. My girl." He stopped and faced Sam. He let go of her hand and started to skate around her as he continued to sing. Sam moved into the middle of the rink, watching Bradin skate by.

"Well! I guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way?" He sung as he skated by other couples.

"Oh my god." Sam said to herself, putting her hand over her mouth. She watched Bradin skate slowly around her, singing to The Temptations.

"I've got sunshine on a cloudy day." He sang as he circled around her. "I've even got the month of May with my girl. Talkin' bout, talkin' bout, talkin' bout my girl. That's all I can talk about is my girl." He sang, skating up to Sam as the people around them stopped to look.

Bradin got down on one knee on the ice, taking Sam's hand. "Sam." He said, smiling at her. Sam couldn't possibly think what Bradin was doing as she frantically looked around her. "Sam, will you be my girl?" He asked sweetly, looking at her, awaiting her answer eagerly.

Sam took a deep breath, going over that sentence in her head. She smiled and looked into Bradin's eyes. "I'd love to be your girl." She gleamed. Bradin got up, taking both of Sam's hands as she kissed him on the cheek. They ended up hugging each other as the crowd clapped for them. The DJ even picked up on it and put a spotlight on the two of them in the middle of the rink. As the crowd dispersed, Sam and Bradin slowly skated off the ice, hand in hand. As they returned their skates, they couldn't help but get several "Aww's" and random people clapping for them as they left.

Sam and Bradin ended up walking along the pier which looked out at the beach. They walked slowly, speaking only a few times, not sure of what to say. Bradin took Sam's hand and looked at her in the moonlight. He watched the way her hair flew off her shoulders as the wind blew it, and how the corner of her cheeks were curled since she was still smiling. He looked down at their hands and he noticed that she held on to his hand tightly, not planning to let it go. They stopped after a while and stood against the railing and looked out at the beach. It was a while before anyone said anything.

"Tonight has been great." Sam said, turning to look at Bradin, who was already staring at her. "It was the best date I've been on. Considering this was my first." She said, making them both laugh.

Bradin smiled. "I'm glad you had a good time. I wanted it to be different ya know. Not just a dinner and a movie, but I also wanted you to enjoy it." He smiled.

"I did enjoy it." She replied. Sam looked out towards the ocean, trying to see anything out there. "You know," She began to say. "My friends back home would never imagine me out on a date." She chuckled. "I've never been the kinda girl to go out on dates, that's why I never did." She said, still looking out to the water. "I wasn't really interested in anyone back home. I think that's why all the girls didn't like me. I mean, I'd hang out with basically all guys, but I didn't like a single one of 'em." She turned to Bradin. "Until I came here, and met you." She told him. "I'm glad that I waited." She said softly.

Bradin wasn't sure how to answer her. He also wanted to wait for someone important, someone special. But he didn't. Instead he made stupid decisions which led to unpleasant turnouts. But for the time being, he was having the time of his life. He'd gotten to know a great girl with an excellent down to earth personality, he'd spent the night having fun with that girl, and now she was sharing something very personal with him.

"I'm glad you waited too." He replied, being the only thing he could think of at the time. They stood there, both looking out to the water, thinking. Soon they decide to walk back home. On their way home, Lucas and Krystal saw them walking together, hand in hand.

"Yes." Krystal said to Lucas, looking at Sam and Bradin walk in silence.

Sam and Bradin talked a bit more on the walk home, sharing all the fun things they did that night. Sam was super impressed by Bradin's singing.

"I didn't know you were such a good singer." She smiled, as they walked up to Sam's driveway. "That was probably the sweetest thing anyone's done for me." She told him.

"I'm happy you liked it. I was kinda scared to sing, in front of all those people." He said as they both chuckled. "But I didn't care. I had fun." He smiled. They reached her front door, still holding hands.

Sam turned to Bradin. "Did you plan that?" She asked curiously.

Bradin smiled. "I may have made a few phone calls." He told her.

"Oh, here." Sam said, starting to take his jacket off. "I completely forgot about it."

Bradin stopped her. "No." He said, then smiled. "Keep it." He told her.

She looked at him and smiled. "So does this mean that we're really…" She bit her lip. "We're official?" She asked him nervously.

"If you want it to be." He said shyly.

Sam smiled. "Duh." They both laughed. "Thanks for tonight. It was amazing." She said to him. They stood there awkwardly. "I guess I'll see you later." Sam said softly.

"Yeah." Bradin replied. They both took a deep breath, leaned towards each other, and kissed for the first time. As Sam's lips touched Bradin's she closed her eyes and only felt the pure happiness of that moment. Bradin closed his eyes as well and thought of how long he'd been wanting to kiss Sam like that, and he's glad he waited until that night. It was a sweet and brief kiss, but it still said everything it needed to, to end an amazing night.

Sam smiled. "Goodnight Bradin." She said.

"Night Sam." He replied. She opened the door and he watched her go in. He stuck his hands in his pockets and smiled to himself. He bit his lip out of satisfaction of how the entire night turned out, then headed home.

Sam went inside, knowing that her dad and brother would be waiting up. She went into the living room to find them both watching TV. They asked her how it went, very curious about it. She briefly went over everything they did, leaving out that kiss goodnight. She gave her dad and brother hugs and headed up stairs to bed. It was only once she left that her dad and brother noticed Bradin's jacket as well as the giddy tone in Sam's voice.

When Sam opened her door, she took Bradin's jacket off and held it in her arms. She saw the rose Bradin gave her on her desk, and sat down by it. She figured her dad must've put it in her room. She pressed the rose up against her nose and smelt its fragrance. She opened her eyes and felt his jacket. She loved the way it perfectly fit her and how it's black and white colors would go with almost anything she wore. She closed her eyes, trying to recap every part of the night. All she wanted to do was to relive that night over and over again.

Once Bradin got home, Ava, Jay and Susannah were waiting up for him. He knew they'd want to know everything that happened, so without being asked, he filled them in on everything they did, even his singing at the skating rink. Jay and Susannah gave him hugs, and told him how happy they were that he and Sam were now an item. Ava stood on the side and smiled at Bradin. She was proud that he had waited this long, instead of rushing it like he'd done before. It was then that Ava had really thought that Bradin might actually be changing, and he was serious about it.

Bradin went to his room and laid down on his bed. He put his hands under his head and closed his eyes. He pictured Sam when he first saw her at her house. She looked perfect in her outfit, he loved the way her hair flowed remained in his head, and the sweet way she kissed him would never leave his mind. He too had to give himself credit for waiting that long to ask Sam out. He was proud of himself, and all the things he'd change. He could tell that this wasn't just a high school crush, and that it wouldn't just last a few weeks. He knew it would last for a long time, and he wanted it to. Now was finally the time to show everyone he was changing his ways, and that he would start doing the right thing. For himself, and for Sam.


	14. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

After the perfect date, and a goodnights' rest, Sam woke up with a whole new feeling of satisfaction. She sat up in her bed and looked at Bradin's jacket that hung over her chair. Nothing could ruin that wonderful feeling she had.

"Sam." Her dad said firmly as she walked into the kitchen. Maka and Matt were getting breakfast ready when she walked in.

"Morning." She said, still a little sleepy.

Matt turned the stove off and looked at Sam, crossing his arms. "So, did you leave some things out from last night?" He asked.

"Huh?" She replied, rubbing her eyes and yawning.

"We noticed that you were a little too happy last night when you came home. And you were uh, wearing Bradin's jacket when you came in." Maka said to her. "So, we're assuming something else happened that you didn't tell us…but your going to right now." He told her.

Sam knew exactly what they were talking about and dropped her head. "Oh yeah, that part." She closed her eyes then looked up at the both of them. "Okay, well, what else did you want to know?" She asked them, giving herself time to think of how to explain the fact that she and Bradin were now an item.

"Why you were so damn happy?" Matt replied.

"And why you were wearing his jacket?" Maka added.

Sam nodded her head slowly. "Right, those parts." She tried to smile. "Well," She started, still picking her word carefully. "I was so happy last night, and I was wearing his jacket because…" She paused, looking at her brother and dad who both awaited her answer. "Because, I guess you could say that Bradin and I are now an item." She held her breath, and waited for their reactions.

Maka and Matt seemed to have hit the floor, without actually falling. Maka stared at Sam, not blinking or moving at all. Matt gasped when Sam told them, and began to gesture frantically.

"What!" Matt finally exclaimed after a minute or so. "What do you mean you're an item?" That was a stupid question, because there was only one meaning to 'they were an item' that dealt with a boy and a girl. Matt looked to his dad and began to whine. "Dad, do something!" He said loudly.

Maka still couldn't stop staring at Sam. Both Sam and Matt were worried about their dad, he hadn't said anything or done anything since she told them. She'd think he would've gone crazy like how Matt had, but he didn't.

"Dad." Sam said, moving towards him, a little worried. "Dad are you okay?" She asked him, hoping he'd respond.

Maka then took a deep breath and moved towards Sam, and hugged her. "I'm happy for you Sam." He said, almost sounding as if he was crying. Sam and Matt stood there, not knowing what to do. Sam slowly put her arms around her dad and hugged him back while Matt seemed to be getting antsy. Maka continued to hug Sam as Matt moved around the kitchen.

"Dad! What are you doing?" He shouted, still shocked at what he was doing.

Maka stepped away from Sam and smiled. "I'm very happy for you." He said with a sweet smile.

"Thanks dad." Sam replied, smiling as well. Matt was the only one who was freaking about all of this. "I thought you'd be mad about it." She said to him.

"Yeah, like how I am!" Matt exclaimed.

Maka smiled. "I knew it'd happen eventually. I could tell. I could see it in his eyes last night when he came to get you." He began to explain. "The way he looked at you, was so sincere. And the way you left the house, absolutely happy. It might've happened last night, tomorrow night, or next week. But I knew you'd end up together." He said. "And I'm glad he finally asked you." He smiled, giving Sam another hug.

"Dad, how can you be so calm about this?" Matt asked, taking a deep breath to try to calm down. "I mean, Sam has a boyfriend now." He said slowly, taking the words in himself.

Maka nodded. "I know Matt, Sam has a boyfriend now. But that boyfriend is one of the best young men I've seen chase after Sam." He said, turning to Sam. "Out of all the boys that's chased you before, this one I like." He said with a slight chuckle. He cleared his throat. "C'mon, let's have breakfast." He said as they all moved slowly into the dinning room area.

Matt was finally calming down and willing to listen to Sam as she explained to them what happened. In the end, Maka was still thrilled for Sam, and Matt had come to an understanding if not a liking of the whole situation. After breakfast, Sam went up to the room to start on her homework and projects.

"So, I hear you finally asked her out, officially." Cameron said to Bradin.

Bradin smiled. "Yeah, I did." He replied, still proud of what he'd done.

"Yeah, my brother is finally doing the right thing." Nikki said as she received Bradin's glare. "Just kidding." She joked. "I'm happy for you." She said and gave Bradin a hug.

"Thanks Nikki." He said. Cameron and Nikki left to meet Amber, when Ava and Jay came back home from early morning errands.

"Hey champ, how ya feelin' this morning?" Jay asked him, sitting next to him on the couch.

Bradin smirked. "Pretty good man."

"So Bradin, are you and Sam doing anything today? Being your first official day as a couple." She smiled.

"I know." Bradin smiled. "But Sam's got a bunch of homework to do, I do too. But I was thinkin' of calling her later in the day."

Ava smiled. "Sounds good." She said and patted Bradin's hand. "I'm glad everything worked out for you two."

"Me too." Bradin replied, smiling.

At about lunchtime Bradin called Sam, a little nervous, not knowing what to say. But that nervous feeling soon left him when he heard her voice. They ended up talking for a good hour before they decided they'd better get back to their homework. Lucas went to go see Bradin at around 3:00 to congratulate him on asking Sam out.

"How'd you know?" Bradin asked him. "I didn't tell anyone yet, except for Ava and everyone else." He said, confused.

"Man, me and Krystal saw you guys last night, walking together, hand in hand." Lucas teased him. "So you finally did it?" He asked for reassurance.

Bradin nodded. "Yeah, sure did."

"Awesome." Lucas said. They talked a little bit more about what went on and how Bradin asked her. Bradin felt good he could tell a friend about it, since Lucas knew how much he liked Sam, and how much he cared about her.

Later that night after dinner, Bradin called Sam again, and they ended up talking for about two hours, until Nikki started yelling at Bradin for being on the phone so long. Neither of them wanted to get off, but Bradin said that he had to go. They agreed to meet tomorrow at Sam's locker in the morning. Tomorrow would be their first day of school as a couple, the first day that everyone would see them, together, as an item. Sam could barely fall asleep because she was too excited for the next day to come. Bradin on the other hand slept like an angel, simply because he was dreaming of Sam, and she was his dream come true.


	15. Chapter 13

Note: I'm sooooo sorry! For some stupid and mean reason hasn't been letting me log in for almost two weeks! Here's the long awaited continuation, chapter 13.

Chapter 13

Sam got up feeling well rested, and very excited to go to school. She wasn't sure when she'd see Bradin, or where, but all she knew is that she wanted to very badly. Before she left her room, she put Bradin's jacket on, just to wear it. It wasn't that cold, but she just wanted to wear it to school. Since he didn't normally catch the bus, she knew she'd probably have to catch him at school before homeroom. On the bus ride, Cameron and Nikki both congratulated her about Bradin, and how everyone's been waiting for it to happen. When she got to school, she knew Bradin was there, somewhere, but she didn't exactly know where, so she just went to her locker first. She opened her locker and took some notebooks and textbooks out, and replaced them with ones she already had. She closed her locker to see Bradin smiling brightly at her.

"Hey." She said softly, smiling back.

"Hey." He replied. "This is for you." He said, taking out a red rose from behind his back, just like how he'd done on Saturday night.

Sam smiled and looked at Bradin. "Bradin." She said, taking the flower.

Bradin gleamed. "I thought it was a nice way to start off our first day together, being a couple and all." He said shyly.

"Thank you Bradin." Sam. They stood there, smiling at each other as other students passed, staring at Sam and Bradin.

"So, walk you to your homeroom?" Bradin offered.

"Sure." Sam agreed as Bradin took her hand and they started walking. As they passed through the hall other students observed Bradin and Sam. From the rose, Sam wearing Bradin's jacket, and of course the holding of the hands. The students started whispering and chattered to each other as Bradin and Sam passed by.

Sam and Bradin said goodbye to each other once they got to Sam's homeroom. Daniel immediately noticed the two of them holding hands, and asked Sam about it when she sat down. Daniel was thrilled for Sam and Bradin, since he too was waiting for it to finally happen. Sam headed off to Economics, ready to answer to whatever snide remark Avery would make that day. And Avery for sure noticed the red rose placed on Sam's desk when he walked in. After class he waited for Sam to walk by so he could talk to her.

"So, who's the rose from?" He asked with a hint of jealously in his voice.

Sam grinned. "Oh, just someone."

"Who's someone?" He asked curiously.

"I'm sure you'll find out eventually." She said smugly and walked out of the class. Avery remained in the class while different students entered, thinking about who would've given her the flower.

Bradin and Sam barely paid any attention in physics that day, with the exception of some occasional note taking. By lunch, at least half the school had seen Bradin and Sam together. Their school was known to have rumors spread rather quickly, but this was like the spreading of the Plague. At lunch, the whole gang congratulated Bradin and Sam on being a couple, letting all the other tables around them hear it as well. Sean and Tracy couldn't help but tease Bradin about it, and Daniel and Lucas joined in on the fun. It was a good lunch with all of them, even if they were teasing Sam and Bradin, it was all out of fun. After lunch Bradin walked Sam to calculus. As they made their way to her class, they noticed Avery standing at the other end of the hall.

"Are you kidding me." Avery said to himself, walking closer to Bradin and Sam. "No way." He saw Bradin holding Sam's hand as he walked her into her class. Avery stopped in the middle of hallway, staring at Bradin as he left the class. Bradin walked towards Avery, with a huge grin on his face. After school, Lucas found Bradin heading out of school.

"So? How'd your first day being Sam's boyfriend go?" He asked eagerly.

Bradin grinned. "It went excellent. And Avery even saw us together." He said, very satisfied.

"He did!" Lucas gasped. "Ah man, that's awesome." Lucas slapped Bradin's hand. "Finally, somethin' that guy wanted, but can't get." He smirked as they both laughed.

The rest of the week went by smoothly between Sam and Bradin. They met each other every morning and spent almost all their spare time together at school, and at surf practice. When they didn't have practice, they were hanging out together, wherever that may be. Whether it was out at the beach, doing homework, or just sitting someplace and talking, it seemed like the perfect week for the both of them. Saturday night would be their second date, and Bradin wanted it to be as good as the first one, so they went bowling.

"Hey, I didn't know you were good at bowling." Bradin said, looking at their scores by the end of the tenth frame. "Geez, 212 Sam." He smiled.

Sam smiled. "Well, I might've been in a bowling league back home." She smiled.

"Oh, so that's why you're so good, huh!" He joked. "Well, I think my 162 is pretty good." He said, very proud of himself.

Sam laughed. "I think it's pretty good too." She said, then she kissed him lightly on the lips. They pulled apart and smiled at each other a for a few minutes. After another game and some snacks, they left the bowling alley and they walked through the open shops near the beach. There was a group of people in one of the arcades that were open, and Sam could see bright lights and hear lots of techno music.

"Ooh, c'mon Bradin." She said, tugging on his hand. They rushed up to the crowd and saw that they were all watching two teenagers playing Dance Dance Revolution. At the end of the third song, the group cheered and clapped for the two girls. They stepped off as the crowd waited for other players to watch.

Bradin looked at Sam who was gleaming. "Oh no, there's no way you're gonna get me to play that." He said, already reading her mind.

"Oh, please!" She begged him. "C'mon, just one game." She said, then pouted her lips.

Bradin stared at Sam, and couldn't say no to those lips. He smiled. "Okay, but just one game." He gave in.

Sam jumped up and gave him a kiss. They both stepped onto the dance pads as the crowd clapped for them.

"I can't believe I'm doin' this." He said, wiping his forehead.

Sam put some quarters in and hit the buttons to start the game. "Okay, just hit the arrows with your feet when they go over this bar." She said and gestured to the screen. "You have to step on the arrows right when they're over it." She advised him.

He turned to Sam. "You've played this before?" He asked.

She smiled. "I might've played it a couple of times." She told him, which meant she'd played it a lot before. She picked a song and the game began. The loud techno music drowned out their loud stomps on the dance pad.

Left, right, up, down, down, down, jump!

The arrows moved quickly up the screen while Bradin struggled to keep up with it. Sam followed the arrows with her eyes and transferred them into the motion of her feet. She hit every arrow and got 'perfects' in her steps. Bradin started moaning at the fact that he was doing so badly, but ended up laughing. After the first song he crouched over, breathing heavily.

"Okay, now I know why I never played this game." He said, making Sam laugh.

They played two more songs, both of which Sam and Bradin couldn't stop laughing. Left, left, right, right, up, up, down, down, jump, pause, pause, left, right, jump, jump, right, left, jump, up, down, pause, left, down, up, right, and the steps continued. At the end of the three songs, they were both graded overall on their performance. Bradin was happy enough he got a C, but that couldn't beat Sam's double A's she got. The crowd cheered and clapped for the two of them as they hugged each other and stepped off the dance pad. They walked out of the arcade laughing.

"See, wasn't that fun?" Sam asked as they found a bench along the pier to sit at.

Bradin sat down next to Sam. "Define fun." He laughed.

"Hey, you did pretty good." She told him.

"But nothing compared to your A's you kept getting." He said.

Sam smiled. "Well, that's true, I did get all A's." She grinned. She looked to Bradin who was smiling at her.

Bradin took Sam's hand and held it tightly. "Well, I'm fine having you win." He said. "As long as I'm there with you." He gave her a sweet smile, then he kissed her softly. They walked home slowly, taking in everything from that night. The night had gone just as good as their first date the weekend before. They ended their night with another sweet kiss.

The next day Sam went over to Bradin's house to study for their finals. They had Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for their semester finals, and both Sam and Bradin needed to study for physics. They studied the most for physics, then French. After that they tested each other on their different classes they had, hoping that they'd each do well on their finals. Bradin knew that he needed these finals to bring up his grade so he could possibly get back on the surf team and surf for the second semester of school. Sunday they both studied on their own for their classes, getting ready to take their finals.

"Good luck." Bradin said to Sam and kissed her gently.

"You too." Sam smiled.

"See you after school." He said as he left her class and headed to his own. They had periods two and four on Monday, which meant Sam started her finals off with French 2. They started their finals, everyone hoping they'd do well on it. Sam had started school after majority of the material that was on the exam was covered. She also came into the class with having Hawaiian as her last language, so she really needed to do well on this, even if she didn't know some of the material.

Bradin started off with Algebra 2, a subject he never cared for. He focused on the questions and went through each problem, spending at least a two minutes on each. It was only about 12 when the last final of the day was done, so most of the kids were heading off to the beach. Sam, Bradin, Lucas and Daniel were planning to go to lunch someplace and hang out. They all went over what finals they had, and how hard it was for all of them.

The next day they had periods six and five, and Wednesday they ended the semester with periods three and one. Sam and Bradin were nervous about their physics exam, but they know they studied enough for it.

"I'll meet you at your class okay." Bradin said to Sam as the bell rang to end class.

"Yep." She replied. Sam headed off to her AP World Economics class, waiting until it was over, which meant Christmas break had started. She breezed through the exam, since she liked this class, with the exception of Avery. She finished the exam with 20 minutes left in the period, as did many of the other students did as well. When the bell rang, the students rushed out of the class, ready to start their vacation.

Avery stood up and turned his exam in just as Sam reached the door. "So, what'd you think about the exam?" He asked Sam.

She turned to him and sighed. "It was fine." She said impatiently. She didn't want to spend one more minute in school than she had to, and Avery was keeping her in.

"So, you wanna do somethin'?" He asked her. "Now that we're on break and all." He smiled.

Sam stared at him. "That's okay, I have plans." She said, shifting her backpack on her shoulder.

"Oh right, you're goin' with that Westerly kid." Avery snickered.

"Bradin." She said sternly.

Avery shrugged. "Whatever. How about you dump the kid and-" He began to say as Bradin walked in the room.

"You ready to go Sam?" He asked, then turning to Avery, glaring.

Sam nodded. "Sure am. Bye Mr. Heyd." She said, waving to her teacher as he waved back. She looked to Avery plainly. "Bye Avery." Bradin put his arm around Sam and walked her out of the room, glaring at Avery.

"Was he botherin' you?" He asked.

"No, just being an idiot. Ya know, his usual self." She said as they both laughed.

Winter break had officially started and kids were driving off and walking home, ready to spend two and a half weeks away from school. Sam and Bradin went to go have lunch, seeing almost ten of their classmates there as well. Bradin and Sam spent the rest of the week together, both anticipating Christmas which was on Sunday.


	16. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Christmas was on Sunday, so both Bradin and Sam were spending the weekend with their families. On Friday night they went out for a few hours. On their way home, they told each other about their Christmas' back home. Bradin shared with Sam that for the past couple of years Derrick would get up before everyone else and go downstairs to wait by the presents. Eventually he'd wake everyone up, and they'd all drink cocoa and open presents on Christmas morning. On Christmas Eve, Sam would be able to open one gift that night, and open the rest of them the next morning. Sam loved making her Christmas gifts for her friends, that way she felt that it was more personal. But the last Christmas she ran out of ideas of what to make her friends, so she ended up buying things for them.

"It's gonna be weird, not being home for Christmas." Sam said, gazing up at the stars.

Bradin nodded. "I know what you mean." He commented. "Everything's still new for us. But I guess it'll only get better." He said, turning to Sam as he squeezed her hand. They said goodnight and agreed to call each other on Christmas after they opened all their gifts.

Christmas Eve was just as exciting as Christmas Day. At Bradin's house, there were the six of them, and Cameron and his dad joined them for dinner. Maka was able to get both Christmas Eve and day off to spend time with Sam and Matt. It was about 6:30 Christmas Eve when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Matt called out. He opened the door and saw Bradin. "Hey Bradin, what's up." He said, slapping his hand.

"Hey Matt. Is Sam here?" He asked.

Matt nodded his head. "Oh yeah, here, c'mon in." He said, stepping to the side to let Bradin pass. He closed the door behind him and called out, "Sam!" Sam came down from her room and Saw Bradin standing by her door.

"Hey Bradin." She said happily. "What are you doing here?"

Bradin smiled. "I wanted to give you your Christmas present." He handed her a Christmas bag.

Sam gleamed. "Thank you Bradin." She took the bag then looked at Bradin. "Wait here." She said, and walked into the living room. Maka walked by and said hi to Bradin as Bradin returned his greeting. Sam came back with a box wrapped in green Christmas wrapping paper. "And this is for you." She smiled.

"Thanks Sam." Bradin smiled. They said their goodbyes and kissed each other as Bradin left. Sam went into the living room to place his gift under their Christmas tree.

Like the years before, Matt and Sam both opened one gift on Christmas Eve, then headed off to bed. As Sam got settled in her bed, her dad opened the door and came in to sit on her bed.

"All tucked in?" He asked her, chuckling.

Sam smiled. "Yeah." She didn't look as happy as she usually would be on Christmas Eve. Maka noticed this and questioned Sam about it.

"Somethin' wrong?"

Sam looked around her room, then at her dad. "It's just gonna be weird. Our first Christmas away from home, and without mom." Neither of them said anything.

Maka took Sam's hand. "Sam, I know it's different up here." He began saying. "But change happens." He looked at Sam and could tell that she still was unhappy. "Look. I know you miss home, and we all miss mom. But this is gonna be the first to many Christmas's, New Year's, birthday's, and a whole lot more. So we just gotta look towards all the good, okay." He tried to comfort her.

Sam knew that what her dad wanted most at that moment was to see her smile, so she smiled for him. "You're right." She told him. Maka smiled, then got up to kiss her forehead. "Goodnight dad."

Maka walked to the door. "G'night Sam." And he left.

Sam tried to do what her dad told her to, think about the good. For one, she was enjoying school, and the surf team. Matt was visiting from school and they've been having a good time so far and Maka seemed to be enjoying his job. The surf wasn't too bad out here either. And the best thing so far was Bradin. As she drifted off into dreamland, thinking about Bradin, Bradin was doing the same thing. Bradin was also thinking about his first Christmas in Playa Linda. But he knew that everything happens for a reason, and that things were slowly starting to get better as the days went by. Especially in the few weeks he and Sam have been an official couple, he's been having the time of his life. And he knew it would all lead to greater things in the coming year.

Christmas morning was as sunny as summer days in Hawaii. Sam and Matt got up at seven, still feeling that child-like excitement of Christmas morning. Maka finally made it downstairs by eight, and by that time Maka and Sam already had Christmas music playing, along with the coffee and cocoa made. The three of them took turns opening gifts they got from each other. It was a smaller Christmas than the others, since it was a rough year of change and moving around. But with the few things they got, they all loved and appreciated every single one of them. Sam waited to open Bradin's gift last. Once Matt and Maka were finished with their gifts, she got up to get the Christmas bag she got from Bradin. She sat down on the floor next to the Christmas tree and began opening the bag.

She opened the bag and took something out that was wrapped in tissue paper. After she tore off the green tissue paper, she found a blue stuffed dolphin wearing a flower lei around it's neck. She picked it up and smiled. Bradin had remembered her favorite animal was a dolphin, and she loved the fact that he remembered. She showed her dad and brother, then placed it down next to the bag. Sam started folding the tissue paper when she saw a small golden box hidden underneath some of the tissue paper. She picked it up and opened it to find a silver bracelet with a dolphin pendant on it. Sam took it out of the box so that her dad and brother could see. She held it in her hand, moving her finger across the dolphin.

"It's beautiful." Maka commented, smiling at Sam. She looked up at her dad and smiled back. It was the sweetest gift she's ever gotten from a boy.

Even though they weren't in Kansas anymore, Derrick still kept his annual tradition of getting up first and waking everyone up to open their presents. He went to everyone's room to get them up, then they all headed downstairs to the living room. Derrick, being the most anxious out of all of them immediately started opening his gifts. They all opened their gifts, thanking each other for what they got.

"I think this one's for Bradin." Susannah smiled, handing Bradin's gift from Sam to him.

He took it in his hand and stared at it. "Well, open it!" Nikki said. "What'd she get you?" She asked curiously.

"Okay, okay." Bradin chuckled.

He slowly removed the wrapping paper, not wanting to rip it all off. Once he got the wrapping paper off, he found a wooden picture frame that read "Goofy" which was carved into the bottom of the frame. It had a picture of Sam and Bradin making funny faces at the camera. He smiled, remembering that afternoon they went to get pizza when they took that picture.

"Well?" Ava asked him. Bradin, smiling brightly, held up the picture frame so everyone could see it. They looked at the picture of Bradin and Sam, and all they could do was smile.

"Oh that's so cute!" Nikki exclaimed. "I'm so happy for you Bradin." She said, jumping up to hug him. Derrick and Jay patted him on the shoulders. Bradin smiled, then looked at Ava, to see her tearing. She mouthed "Merry Christmas" to Bradin as tears slowly made their way down her cheeks. Ava was happy to see Bradin doing well in school, staying on track, and finally finding someone he cared so much for.

After they were all done opening their presents, they all put their things together, and got ready to make breakfast.

"I'm gonna go put this in my room." Bradin said to everyone, holding the picture frame in his hand. He walked into his room and closed his door. He sat on his bed, and placed the picture on his nightstand next to his bed. He sat there, looking at the picture of himself and Sam. A small smile crept across his lips.

Later that day, Sam called Bradin to wish him a Merry Christmas, which Bradin did as well. They both thanked each other for their gifts.

"I love my dolphin. Well, dolphins." Sam smiled. "They're great. Thank you so much Bradin."

Bradin smiled on his side of the line. "You're welcome. And I love the picture frame." He chuckled. "It's a great picture of us."

Sam laughed. "Well, I wanted it to be a light-hearted Christmas, so I picked a picture we both had fun in." They spent about an hour talking about the things they got from their families and friends. Interestingly enough, they both got things from friends back home. Sam also got some Merry Christmas emails from her friends. They agreed they'd spend the next day together, and ended their phone call. That night they both had Christmas dinner's with their families. For both Bradin, Sam, and each of their families, it was the first Christmas away from their homes. It was different, but so far, it was all going very well for all of them.

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Lei: A Hawaiian accessory; resembles a long necklace made out of flowers, shells, yarn, etc.


	17. Chapter 15

Note: Haven't been able to log in for about two weeks. So I'm gonna post two chapters tonight since I don't know when I'll be able to get in again.

Chapter 15

Sam and Bradin spent the afternoon together. Bradin walked to Sam's house to get her, then they headed out to lunch. They talked about their Christmas' some more, then drifted off into other topics. When they were just about done with lunch, Avery came walking in and walked over to Sam and Bradin.

"Great." Sam mumbled. Avery stopped in front of their table with a grin on his face.

"Hey Sam." He smiled.

"Hi." She said plainly as Bradin stared at Avery.

Avery put his hands in his jacket pockets. "So, how was your Christmas?" He asked her, sounding very polity for a change.

Bradin and Sam exchanged glances. "Fine." Sam answered. She wasn't interested in talking with Avery at all.

"Can we help you with something?" Bradin finally asked, with a hint of annoyance in his voice.

Avery looked at Bradin, then Sam. "Well, I just wanted to give you this." He took out a small white box with a purple bow on top. "A day late Christmas gift." He told her, then placed it on the table.

Sam picked the box up, then looked at Avery. "Umm, thank you." She said, not sure if he was playing a game and if the box was empty, of if he actually got her something.

Avery smiled. "Well, I'll see ya later Sam." He turned around and walked away.

Sam and Bradin sat there, not sure what to do. They stared at the box in Sam's hand. Sam looked at Bradin who was just as confused as she was.

"Well, let's see what this is all about." She said, and slowly took the cover off the box. She opened the box and found a golden necklace with a rose pendant. Sam was in shock when she opened the box.

"What, what is it?" Bradin asked her, noticing her expression.

"It's-it's a necklace." She said, still surprised. "With a rose." She looked at it in awe, as if it was the most beautiful thing she's ever seen.

Bradin narrowed his eyes. "What?" He reached over the table to take the box out of Sam's hand and looked at it. When he saw it, he too was shocked that Avery had given Sam this piece of jewelry.

"Wow." Bradin said quietly, slowly handing Sam the box back. "It's nice." He told her, still looking at the necklace.

Sam sat there, holding the box in her hand and staring at it. They finished up their lunch in silence and left the restaurant quietly. They decided to walk to the park, so they could talk more. Sam settled underneath a tree while Bradin paced around her.

"Bradin." Sam said softly. Bradin sighed loudly and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm giving this back." She said, holding the box in her hand. "I can't except something like this. Especially from him." She said, looking straight at Bradin whose eyes were wandering.

"Why? It's a Christmas gift." He spoke while looking around him. "A great Christmas gift. You should keep it." He said coldly.

Sam looked up at him, waiting for him to look at her. Bradin slowly turned to see Sam.

"Bradin, you know he's just trying to get to the both of us. This is just one of his games again." She told him, hoping he was listening.

Bradin looked at Sam then sat down next to her. "Sam, this can't be a game." He began to say. "I mean, look at it." He took the box out of her hand and opened it. "This must've cost him-" He paused. "More than I could afford. He must really like you." He said sadly, then handed her back the box.

"Bradin." Sam took Bradin's hand. "I could care less about how much it cost. Yes, I'm sure it wasn't cheap, but that doesn't matter. I love your gift, I know that gift was from the heart. Not something you could just pick up from some fancy jewelry store that sells all of the exact same thing." She smiled at him. "Your gift was perfect."

Bradin put his arm around Sam's shoulder and pulled her close to him. "I just wanted to give you something special for Christmas."

Sam smiled. "You did." They spent some time at the park, then Bradin walked Sam home. The rest of the night Bradin couldn't stop thinking about the necklace Avery gave to Sam. How could Avery possibly afford something like that? And why did he give it to Sam? He knew Avery liked her, but to give her a necklace like that was so out of the ordinary. He tried to get it out of his head, but he couldn't.

The next morning Maka asked Sam to help him take down some of his own records so he could go over them with the other dj's. After Sam helped him get settled, she left to go meet Matt so they could go see a movie. On their way out of the movie theatres Sam used the bathroom before she meet Matt who was waiting outside for her. On her way out she saw a few of Avery's friends near the video games.

"Hey, you guys hear about what Avery did?" Pete asked while trying to play Mortal Combat at the same time.

"What?" Micah asked, turning to Pete.

"Somethin' about that necklace huh?" Paul said, trying to press the right buttons to get this combo to beat Pete's characters.

Pete nodded his head. "Yep, with that necklace he bought for Sam for Christmas."

Sam overheard her name mentioned with the necklace, so she stood on the other side of the game counsel to listen.

"He told me he bought her this spankin' new necklace with a rose pendant on it for Christmas. Ya know, this real fancy thing, so hopefully she'd see how much money he spent on it, and dump that Westerly kid, and then she'd fall for him." He said as his two friends started laughing.

"What? That's hilarious!" Micah exclaimed.

"Well, it's not like Bradin could afford anything like that anyway." Paul said.

The three boys laughed more about it as Sam took in a deep breath and walked quickly out of the theatres. Sam told Matt about what she heard on their drive home. Matt, being the older brother was ready to deal with this problem, but Sam insisted she handle it her own way.

Wednesday evening, she got together with Bradin, Lucas and Krystal to go see a movie. After the movie was done, they walked around to kill time.

"Hey, check it out." Lucas said, getting everyone's attention. "It's Avery." He told them, gesturing to a group of guys hanging outside one of the shops.

Avery looked towards Sam and smiled. He winked at her, which made her twitch.

"C'mon, let's just go." Bradin said, tugging on Sam's hand, but she didn't move. "Sam?" He asked her.

She stood there, looking at Avery. "No, wait, I gotta take care of something." She said, letting go of his hand.

"What?" He said surprised.

Sam turned to Bradin. "Just stay here okay? Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Just don't move." She told him, then turned and walked towards Avery.

Lucas and Krystal moved closer to Bradin. "What's she doing?" Krystal asked him.

He shook his head. "I have no idea." Bradin answered.

Sam walked up to Avery and his friends, who were laughing and smiling by the time she got to them.

"Hey Sam." Avery said. "I hope you liked my present." He grinned.

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about that." She said to him.

Avery smirked. "I figured." His friends laughed. "But I see you're still with that Westerly kid." He said, nodding his head towards Bradin. "I guess you wanted him to see this huh, when you dump him for me." He said, taking a step towards Sam.

"Hold up." She said, stopping him with her hand. Sam took the box with the necklace out of her pocket and held it in front of his face. "Thanks for the gift, but I don't want it." She said straightforward.

"What?" He gasped, as his friends stared at each other blankly.

Sam tilted her head. "You heard me, I don't want it."

"It's beautiful, and it cost a fortune." He told her, getting annoyed.

"Exactly." She replied. "Look, you thought that you could win me over by buying me this expensive gift didn't you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Uh…" He hesitated, not knowing how to answer.

"Well you can't. I could care less about how much a gift cost, but I guess you didn't know that. It's not only the fact that you thought you could _buy_ me, but you thought I'd leave Bradin, for you?" She said told him, loud enough so Bradin could hear. "Why would I give up a sweet and caring guy for a dirty scum bag like you?" She said as Avery's friends began to laugh.

"I wouldn't. And I'm not. So you can take this thing back and give it to another girl who likes an annoying idiotic fool like yourself." She told him, and tossed the box up in the air. She turned away sharply just as he caught the box with his hands. She walked back to Bradin and took his hand, then they walked off, leaving Avery standing there in shock.

"Dude, what just happened?" Paul asked him.

Avery glared at Paul, then turned to see Sam and Bradin walk off. He looked down and stared at the box in his hand.


	18. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

After Wednesday night, Sam didn't see Avery for the rest of the week, and she was happy about that. She spent most of her time either with Bradin; talking on the phone, going surfing, or just hanging with each other, or with Matt. Matt didn't have to go back to school until mid-January, so they still had time to spend together. Saturday would be December 31st, New Year's Eve, and the Playa Linda Community Board was planning on having a show down at the beach, then have a fireworks show at midnight. Bradin and Sam's family both planned to go out on Saturday and spend their evening and night on the beach to wait for the fireworks.

"C'mon Matt!" Sam called from the kitchen. "Hurry up!"

Maka chuckled to himself. "Sam, we'll be there in time, don't worry." He said to her.

Sam paced in the kitchen with her hands on her hips. "I just don't wanna be late." She said in a huffy voice. Matt strolled in the kitchen, not noticing how annoyed Sam was.

"So, what do you think about my new shades?" He asked, posing with his sunglasses on his face.

Sam walked up to Matt and stopped right in front of him. "Hello! Why did you take your time? You know I can't stand being late." She said firmly to him.

"Whoa, easy Sam." Matt said calmly. "Don't worry, you won't be late for your boyfriend. But maybe I'd like to find some lady friend for me while I'm out here." He smirked.

Sam snickered. "Yeah right."

Maka stood up and walked over to them. "Okay, that's enough. Let's go." He said to them. They got all their things together and headed out to the car. When they got to the beach, Bradin and his family were already there.

"Hey." Bradin said, walking up to Sam and gave her a kiss.

"Hey." She replied. Bradin slapped Maka and Matt's hand and greeted them as well. Jay helped Maka and Matt set up their chairs and towels. It was only six, so they still had tons of time to have dinner and hang out until the fireworks show would start. Derrick, Cameron, Nikki, Sam and Bradin went off on their own to build sand castles and play around. Cameron, Derrick and Bradin threw around a football on the beach, while Nikki and Sam made something in the sand.

"Hey Bradin, Cameron, check this out!" Derrick called to him.

"What is it?" He asked. He looked down on the sand to see Sam and Nikki making a turtle in the sand.

Cameron and Bradin jogged to where Sam and Nikki were sitting on the sand. "Whoa, that's so cool." Cameron said in awe.

Bradin sat down next to Sam and looked at the turtle. "That's awesome." He smiled at her. "But I thought you liked dolphins?" He asked her.

"I do. But I never quite figured out how to make a really nice dolphin out of sand." She smiled.

"How'd you learn to do that?" Derrick asked Sam.

Sam looked at Derrick. "Well, I did spend a lot of time on the beach. When I was little and I didn't quite know how to surf, I'd watch my dad and brother and wait on the sand. So to keep busy I started making things on the sand."

"So I guess you can surf pretty good, and you can make sand sculptures." Bradin said, making Sam turn towards him. "But I bet you can't throw a football." He smirked.

Sam smiled. "Why Bradin, is that a challenge?" She asked him.

"I think it is." He nodded his head. Sam smirked and stood up. She took the football out of Cameron's hand and turned to Bradin. "Let's just see about that." She told him, then she started to walk in the opposite direction.

"Uh, you can stop Sam." Derrick called out to her, but she kept walking until she couldn't make out what he was saying.

Cameron stood up to stand next to Bradin. "Ya think she's actually gonna throw it?" He asked.

"Well, it's Sam, and when she says she's gonna do somethin', she's gonna do it." He looked to Cameron. "So yeah, I'm pretty sure she's gonna throw it."

Sam stopped at one point and turned around to look at them. "Okay Sam, just toss it like you'd toss it during football season." She said aloud to herself. "Kahuku Red Raiders…" She thought of her old football team she used to play with in middle school. "Here goes." She said, then drew her arm back with the football in her hand.

"She's gonna throw it!" Derrick shouted. Sam pulled her arm back even more, and flung it forward, letting go of the ball, making it soar in the sky as it made it's way over to Bradin.

They all watched it fly towards them. "Whoa!" Cameron said, watching it come closer to where they were standing.

"I got it!" Bradin said out loud, backing up a few steps, still keeping his eyes on the ball. With a thud, it landed nicely in Bradin's arms. Sam began jogging over to where everyone was standing.

Nikki smiled widely. "That was awesome." She told them, amazed that Sam threw it that far. Sam walked up to the group and smiled.

"So, was that good enough for ya?" She said, smirking.

Bradin stared at the football in his hands. "That was," He paused, looking up to Sam. "Wow." He said at a loss of words.

"Where'd you learn to throw like that?" Derrick asked happily.

"I used to play football in middle school." She told them.

Cameron's eyes widened. "Football?" He repeated. "As in, football with boys?" Sam nodded and Cameron gasped in amazement.

Bradin smiled. "Okay, how 'bout a game?" He asked. "Me and Cam, against you and Nikki." He said.

Nikki and Sam looked at each other and smiled. "You're on." Nikki said, taking a step towards Cameron. "You're goin' down Cam." She said, trying to sound rough, which just made Cameron laugh.

"What about me?" Derrick asked, feeling left out. "Who's team am I on?"

"You can be on our team Derrick." Sam offered.

Derrick smiled. "Awesome, I'm on the winning team!" He said, standing next to Sam.

"Hey, just 'cause you're my brother, doesn't mean I'm gonna take it easy on you." Bradin said to Derrick.

"Man, cut the small talk and let's play some football!" Derrick said, making Bradin laugh. Both teams ran in opposite directions and began to play.

"Sam has really been a good influence on Bradin." Ava said to Maka as they watched them play football.

Maka smiled. "She's been so happy lately." He replied. "It's good to see her like this."

Jay and Matt sat on two lawn chairs watching the people on the beach. Two girls walked by, catching both Jay and Matt's attention. They looked at each other and bolted out of the chairs.

"We'll be right back." Matt said, starting to walk towards the girls.

"We're just gonna go walking for a while." Jay said, grinning. Jay and Matt jogged up to the girls and started walking with them.

Matt, Ava and Susannah laughed. "Boys will be boys I guess." Maka said.

At about eight o'clock, some bands began to play higher up on the beach, just as it got dark. Bradin, Sam, Nikki and Cameron went to go listen to the music for a while. There were several different kinds of bands that played; alternative, reggae, soul, and a few more.

Whenever a reggae group played, Sam would always start dancing away, or skanking. She would take Bradin's hands and try to get him to dance, but he barely moved, which made Sam try even more.

The four of them went back after about 6 different bands played, by that time it was past ten. They all hung out and talked with each other until the fireworks started. The fireworks show began at 11:30, giving them a half an hour until midnight. The Playa Linda Community board had set up an area in which they got all the fireworks ready. The fireworks were shot off into the air, lighting up the sky with many different colors. Everyone on the beach watched the fireworks, and waited until midnight to greet the new year.

Bradin leaned into Sam so she could hear him. "So, was New Year's like this in Hawaii?" Bradin asked Sam, trying to speak above all the noise.

"Kinda." She replied. "New Year's was a big thing in Hawaii. A lot bigger than the Fourth of July. Everyone goes all out for New Year's, it was a lot of fun." She smiled. "What about in Kansas?" She asked him.

"Fourth of July was bigger than New Year's for us." He said as they both smiled.

They watched the fireworks until it was a minute until midnight. A man from the community board spoke into the speaker and announced that there was one minute left until midnight. Then he announced when there were thirty seconds left, twenty, then ten. Everyone began counting down from ten seconds until midnight.

"Five, four three, two one!" Everyone shouted, then a dozen different fireworks were set off. Everyone cheered, screamed, and clapped their hands. It was officially the new year, 2006.

Bradin and Sam turned to each other. "Happy New Year's Sam." Bradin smiled.

"Happy New Year." Sam replied, as they leaned into each other and kissed, with the bright colors of the fireworks filling the sky above them.

Skanking: A type of dance move (Originally from ska music, I think); it's a hand-arms movement (here's a site that explains how to skank: http/66.102.7.104/search?qcache:YbsRs8XzHhsJ: ) –if this site doesn't work and you don't understand what a skank is, go to a search engine and look for 'skank' or 'skanking'.


	19. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Sam and Bradin still had two more weeks off until school started. For the first week of the year, Sam and Bradin spent all the time that they could together, with exceptions of Sam spending time with Matt, and Bradin telling Sam he had 'work' to do. Sam had a feeling Bradin was planning something for their one month anniversary coming up the following week.

"So, where did you decide to take her?" Lucas asked Bradin, as they opened a couple of sodas and a bag of chips. Bradin had called Lucas over to his house on Thursday to discuss what he should do for his one month anniversary with Sam.

Bradin opened a small notebook he seemed to have taken notes in. "Well, I came up with some ideas…" He said, fingering over what he wrote down.

"Wait a sec." Lucas snatched the notebook from under Bradin's hand. "You took notes on this?" He asked, shocked.

Lucas looked at Bradin to see him trying to smile. "Dude, you really are serious about this night." He said, handing Bradin back the notebook.

Bradin nodded with a serious expression. "I am." He lowered his voice. "I really want this night to be amazing." He looked up at Lucas. Lucas could tell that Bradin was really serious about making this night the best for Sam.

"Okay then." Lucas said, interrupting the short moment of silence. "So, what're you planning?" He asked.

Bradin smiled, pleased that Lucas was interested in his plans. "Okay, well, I wanted to do something different. So I was thinking about setting up a picnic dinner at the top of Crest Hill. Ya know, set up a blanket to sit on, bring some music, stuff like that." Bradin told Lucas. "So?" He asked, after he didn't get a reply from Lucas within a few seconds.

"Well, umm…" Lucas thought up his words carefully. "A moonlight dinner? That's kinda, different." He said.

"That's the point." Bradin replied. "I don't want it to be just some regular date or something. I want her to like it, and remember it."

Lucas nodded in agreement. "Okay, I get the whole special night thing. But why at the top of Crest Hill? Why not right down here on the beach?" He suggested, gesturing to the beach behind him.

Bradin began nodding his head. "I thought of that." He said. "I mean, it's right here, close by everything. But, I chose Crest Hill for a reason."

Lucas waited for Bradin to explain, but found himself asking Bradin to do so instead. "And?"

Bradin smiled. "That night, there's gonna be a meteor shower. I figured what would top off the perfect moonlight dinner than a meteor shower?" He said, proud of his ideas.

"Well." Lucas smirked. "I gotta hand it to you, you really did think this through. I think it's all gonna work." He smiled, slapping Bradin's hand.

They discussed in detail what needed to be done. Bradin even asked Lucas if he could set up the site with Bradin earlier that evening, which Lucas agreed to.

"But say nothing to Sam, or to Krystal." Bradin said.

Lucas looked confused. "Why Krystal?" He wondered.

"Well, she might say something to Sam out of excitement about it. I don't know, girls talk about stuff like that. So I'd rather not have Sam know anything about it. It's gonna be a total surprise to her." Bradin smiled to himself, proud of how well thought out this night was.

For the next couple of days, both Sam and Bradin became excited about their one month anniversary on Tuesday. Although Bradin was excited about Tuesday night, he restrained himself from saying anything about it to Sam.

"C'mon, not even a hint?" Sam asked on their way home Sunday night.

Bradin smiled. "Not even a hint." He replied. "Just trust me, it'll be great. All you have to worry about is being ready Tuesday night, that's all." He grinned to himself.

Ava and Maka also began to get excited about Tuesday that they asked Bradin and Sam about any plans. Bradin refused to say anything until that night, just in case someone might squeal. And Sam, not knowing anything about it, couldn't tell her dad or brother even if she knew.

Tuesday came, and it was only hours until Bradin was to pick up Sam at her house. He and Lucas went up to Crest Hill to set up the site in time for Sam and Bradin's arrival. They cleared out the area that Bradin picked out earlier the week before. Bradin brought along the blanket, plates, and utensils. He left Lucas to set up the things as he returned home to get ready to pick up Sam.

"Okay, so now can you tell us?" Susannah asked excitedly as Bradin came down the stairs. Her curious face soon changed to a pleased, but shocked expression as she set eyes on Bradin. "Ooh, lookin' sharp Bradin." She commented.

Bradin smiled. "Thanks." He was wearing a casual blazer jacket, with a dark blue shirt underneath, comfortable jeans, and sneakers.

"Casual, yet somewhat stylish." Nikki smiled, leaning on the couch.

"So, what have you planned for tonight?" Ava anticipated this moment for a whole week, and she was going to have Bradin tell them.

Bradin smiled. "Okay, I guess I can tell you." He gave in. "Well, I set up this site up on Crest Hill to have a picnic dinner with Sam. And there's supposed to be a meteor shower later tonight, so we can check that out up there." He told them.

Jay patted Bradin on the back and slapped his hand. "Nice man."

Susannah hugged Bradin. "That is a perfect idea for a one month anniversary. She'll love it!"

Nikki and Derrick also congratulated Bradin for coming up with that idea.

"I'm proud of you Bradin." Ava said, once everyone else gave Bradin some congratulations. "You took the time to get to know Sam, you worked on your relationship, and you've improved so much since you met her." She gleamed.

Bradin could see that Ava was about to cry, with her tears building up. "Aunt Ava." He said, trying not to make her cry.

Ava wiped away her tears. "I'm happy for you." She said, and gave him a long, good hug. "Okay, go on." She said, as she kissed Bradin on the cheek. He said goodbye to everyone and headed out towards the car. On his way to the car he called Lucas to ask him if he set up the site yet.

"Yep, all done bro." He replied. "Good luck Bradin." Lucas said.

"Thanks man, I owe you one." Bradin replied. He said goodbye and hung up his cell phone and got in the car to pick up Sam.

Sam was getting ready when the doorbell rang. Matt had invited Bradin in, and he waited for Sam in her living room. He greeted Maka, shaking his hand and asking about his work down at the radio station. Matt, Maka and Bradin talked for a while until Sam came down stairs.

"Hi Bradin." She said softly, walking into the living room to see Bradin waiting for her.

"Hey." He replied, standing up and walking slowly towards Sam. "You look great." He smiled.

Sam was wearing a light lavender top with black jeans. She was also wearing Bradin's jacket he'd given her to keep on their first date.

"I like your jacket." He grinned, making Sam smile. "And these are for you." He said, pulling out a bouquet of flower from behind his back.

Sam took the flower Bradin offered and smiled. "Thanks Bradin." She went quickly into the kitchen to put the flowers in water and returned to the living room. "So, you ready?" She asked.

"You bet." He smiled. "Bye Matt, good seeing you Mr. K." Bradin said cheerfully with a wave.

"Bye guys." Sam said, and turned to walk out of the house with Bradin following her.

When Sam walked out of the house, she noticed Bradin's car in front of her house.

"Ooh, you've got the car tonight. This must be real special." She smiled. Sam had only driven with Bradin a few times since they've been going out, but she knew that he must have a good destination if they were traveling by car.

"So, where are we going?" She asked anxiously, still not sure where he was taking her.

"Well, that's gotta wait for a while more." He said, opening the passenger door and letting Sam get in.

"C'mon, where are we going?" She asked him again.

Bradin turned to Sam. "It's a surprise! Trust me, you'll love it." He smiled, started the car, and started off for Crest Hill.

As they got closer to the site Bradin picked out, he asked Sam to close her eyes until he told her to open them. Sam, enjoying this suspense of where they were going, went along with Bradin's game and closed her eyes. They reached the site and Bradin stopped the car.

"Yes." He whispered to himself, seeing how Lucas had set up the site. "Wait here." Bradin told Sam, and quickly got out of the car.

He opened the trunk to take out their dinner, and his c.d. player which he brought along with him. He placed them on the blanket and quickly went back to the car. He opened Sam's door and asked her to step out of the car.

"Okay, we're here. But keep your eyes closed." He said, putting his hand over her eyes as he walked her over to the blanket, which was only a few steps away.

"Okay, open your eyes!" Bradin said happily, and removed his hand.

With a deep breath, Sam opened her eyes to see the beautiful view of Playa Linda, the ocean with the moon's reflection bouncing off it, and the lovely picnic dinner set up in front of her.

"Surprise." Bradin said quietly to her and she turned to look at him.

Sam took in all that she saw for a few more moments, then turned to hug Bradin as tight as she could. "This is amazing!" She exclaimed. "I love it!"

"I hoped you would." Bradin smiled, then he leaned in to kiss Sam. "Okay, well, let's have some dinner." Bradin suggested, as they got themselves comfortable on the blanket and began to eat dinner.


	20. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

They talked for most of the time, occasionally staring at each other in silence, smiling. After they finished eating, Bradin cleared up the blanket, leaving only his c.d. player and themselves on it. They sat close by each other, talking about how great this past month has been for the both of them. They both couldn't believe that it had been a whole month since their first date. Sam was ecstatic that she'd finally found a guy that didn't go on about sports, and actually listened to what she had to say. And Bradin, more than anyone was proud of himself, doing a complete 360-turn-around with his life style. Then all of a sudden, Bradin turned on his c.d. player and the melody of a sweet, enchanting song emerged from it.

Bradin stood up and offered Sam his hands. "C'mon, let's dance." He smiled.

Sam looked up at Bradin, surprised. "Dance?" She asked in reassurance.

"Yep, let's dance." Bradin said, pulling Sam to her feet.

Sam got to her feet as they both smiled and laughed a bit. Sam eventually ended up wrapping her arms around Bradin's neck, and Bradin placed his hands nicely around her waist, gazing into her eyes. There they were, both looking into each others eyes with sweet smiles on their faces, swaying along with the music underneath the stars.

"I'm surprised at all of this." Sam told Bradin. "That you planned all of this."

Bradin smiled. "I just wanted it to be special for you." He replied.

"It is." Sam said, as Bradin pulled her in towards him and kissed her.

Sam rested her head on Bradin's shoulder, tightening her grip around Bradin's neck. "This night has been amazing." Sam said quietly.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Bradin replied, making them both smile. He closed his eyes and took in this moment, hoping it'd last forever.

Bradin checked his watch, and it read just about 9:52, and the meteor shower was supposed to start around 9:57, and last for almost a half hour. They stopped dancing, and Bradin went to go turn off the music. Sam walked over to the blanket, and started rubbing her arms. Bradin could tell that she was cold, and started for the car.

"Here, I'll get it." He told her, and quickly retrieved his jacket from the car. He put helped her put it on, then took her hand. "C'mon." He said, as they both sat down on the blanket.

"What are we doing?" Sam asked, a little confused. She clasped her hands together, trying to keep them somewhat warm.

Bradin grinned. "Just a few more minutes, I'm sure." He said, speaking more to himself than to Sam. And with a sigh, Bradin saw something bright shoot across the sky.

He smiled, turning to Sam. "Okay, well you wanted to know why I picked Crest Hill, right?" He asked Sam. She nodded. "Well, this is why." He said, then pointed up to the sky. Sam followed his finger and looked up to see, what looked like dozens of stars flying all over the night sky.

Sam gasped, looking at all the flashes of light cross the sky. "Bradin, this is…" She said, at a loss of words.

Bradin smiled, then looked up at the sky with Sam. They watched the meteors for a few minutes, gasping whenever a large meteor zoomed across the black blanket of sky.

"You really planned this whole thing out, didn't you?" Sam asked, still amazed of all the things they did that night.

"I told you, I wanted it all to be special." He said sweetly. He then decided that this was the best time to tell her. "Just like how you're special to me." He said. Sam turned to look at Bradin after she felt his fingers merge with her own.

"Sam," He said, thinking of his words carefully. "This month has been the best month ever. Every time we're together, it's as if the world is at peace, I feel that I'm able to do anything I want to. Everything just feels right." He told her. "I wouldn't trade anything in this world than to be with you." He said gently.

Sam smiled, almost in tears. "I wouldn't either." She replied.

Bradin then squeezed her hand, and with a deep breath, he said, "I love you Sam."

Sam seemed to have stopped breathing at that moment. Did he really say he loved her? She couldn't believe it. She'd always dream about that day when some boy would be the first to tell her he loved her. And she always told herself she would never say it back, unless she absolutely felt the same way. But Sam didn't even have to think twice about it, because she knew she did feel the same way he did, she knew from that very first kiss.

Sam smiled as if it was the best thing she'd ever heard. "I love you too, Bradin." She said softly. Just as Sam was shocked to hear Bradin say 'I love you' to her, he was equally surprised, but thrilled.

"I was hoping you'd say that." He said, smiling. They both leaned into each other, and their lips feel upon each other's taking in every thing that's just happened.

As they pulled away, tears began to stream down Sam's cheeks. Bradin looked at her as if something was so wrong, but she quickly replied, saying that everything was alright.

"I've just been wondering when someone would say that to me." She said, trying to smile, while her tears continued to flow down her face. "I've waited, and wondered…"

Bradin wiped away the tears from her eyes and smiled sweetly. "I'm glad you waited for me." He said gently, lifting her chin up. He kissed her lightly and smiled. He took Sam's hand, then put his arm around her shoulder, and they sat there, close together, watching the stars in silence.

Even as they approached Sam's front door, the held each other's hand so tightly it seemed as if they were never planning on letting go. Sam used her free hand to unlock the door with her keys, then turned back to face Bradin, who stood there, smiling back at her.

"I couldn't have asked for a better night." She told him. They stood there for a few moments, looking into each others eyes.

"Happy one month anniversary, Sam." Bradin told her. "I love you."

Sam smiled. "I love you too." She said. Still holding hands tightly, they kissed each other, which neither of them wanted to end. After several moments, the pulled away from each other. Without saying anything more, Sam opened her door and waved goodbye to Bradin. As Bradin got in his car, he closed his eyes, replaying the entire night in his head. He couldn't believe how well that night had turned out, and that he actually told Sam he loved her.

Maka and Matt were both waiting up for Sam, and heard her come in. Just as Sam took a few steps up to her room, Maka and Matt appeared from the living room.

"So, how was it?" Maka asked, already smiling. Matt stood by his side, hesitant to hear what Sam had to say.

"It was…" Sam smiled. "Amazing. Just, amazing." He simply put it.

Matt and Maka looked at each other, trying to decipher what exactly 'amazing' had meant.

"Meaning what?" Matt asked, bracing himself for what she'd say next.

Sam smiled brightly. "He told me he loves me." She said.

Maka and Matt both froze, neither of them seemed to be breathing. "He told you he loves you?" Maka asked, needing it to be clarified.

"Yeah." She said softly, realizing that it actually had happened.

"Are you serious?" Matt asked in shock.

But without any time for Sam or Matt to say anything, Maka hugged Sam very tightly, tears beginning to come to his eyes. "I'm so happy for you Sam. Bradin's a good boy." He told her, kissing her on the head.

Matt, not as happy as his dad, but still happy that Sam had found someone for her, gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Bradin's got something special." He said to her, making her smile.

"I'll see you guys tomorrow. G'night." She told them, and slowly walked up to her room.

Ava heard Bradin pull up, and quickly walked from the kitchen into the living room, just as he walked in.

"So, how was it?" She asked curiously, wanting to know every detail about it.

All that Bradin could do was smile. Picturing Sam in his head, he simply told her, "It went great. It was the best night, ever."

Ava smiled, giving Bradin a hug. "I'm so proud of you Bradin."

"I told her I love her." He said.

Ava's eyes shot open, not believing what she'd just heard Bradin say. "You did!" She asked, getting excited. Bradin nodded. "Oh my gosh, Bradin!" She gasped, hugging him once more. "I'm so happy for you and Sam." She exclaimed, as Susannah came walking down stairs from her room.

"What's going on?" She asked, half asleep. "Oh Bradin, so how was your date?" She asked him.

Bradin smiled. "I told her I love her."

Susannah, now fully awake gave Bradin a big hug. "You and Sam deserve each other. I'm proud of you Bradin." She said, giving him another hug.

"Thanks." Bradin said. "I'm goin' to bed. Goodnight you guys." He said, turning to go to his room.

Susannah and Ava watched Bradin walk to his room. They turned to each other and smiled. They knew Bradin had been waiting for the right moment to tell Sam this, and tonight was finally the night.

Bradin closed his door behind him and got ready for bed. He pulled the covers up and looked at his picture Sam gave him for Christmas. He knew from this moment on, only the best could come from their relationship. He quickly fell asleep, thinking only of Sam.


	21. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The next day, Bradin woke up to see everyone in his room, including Colby, waiting for him to wake up.

"Whoa, what's goin' on?" He asked, rubbing his eyes, still half asleep.

Jay rushed over to Bradin's side, grinning like a fool. "Ava told us you and Sam exchanged some, 'special' words with each other?" He nudged Bradin with his elbow, still smiling at him.

"So, did you really?" Nikki asked excitedly. "Like, you really told her…" She said, biting her lip in anticipation.

Derrick looked around the room, confused. "What did he say?" He asked.

"We didn't want to spoil it for them," Susannah said. "So we waited for you to tell them." She beamed.

"Tell us what?" Derrick asked, still not sure what they talking about.

Jay and Nikki looked at Bradin, waiting for an answer while Derrick stood there in complete confusion.

Bradin sat up in his bed, starting to smile to himself just at the thought of Sam. "I, um," He began to say, then cleared his throat and looked up. "Last night, I told Sam that I love her." He told them. Jay clapped his hand and gave Bradin a slap of the hand and a big hug. Nikki jumped with excitement, then rushed over to hug Bradin.

"Ooh, I've been waiting for this, I'm so happy Bradin!" Nikki exclaimed.

While Jay, Nikki, Ava and Susannah shared Bradin's happiness, Derrick stood there, shocked. "You told her what?" He said in such a voice as if he'd just committed a crime. Everyone stopped to turn to Derrick.

"You told her you love her?" He said. Bradin looked at Derrick, trying to see what was so wrong. But before Bradin could think anymore on the subject, Derrick jumped on his bed and gave him a hug, making everyone laugh.

"Man, it's about time!" Derrick gasped, laughing as Bradin messed up his hair.

"We're all happy for Bradin." Ava said, standing next to Susannah.

Bradin smiled and looked around the room at all of them. "Thanks guys." He replied.

Later in the day, Bradin called Sam, just to hear her voice. They talked for a while, until Sam had to do some errands with Matt. But they agreed to go out that night to dinner. Some time after Bradin hung up the phone, he heard someone knocking on his door from their patio outside. He saw it was Lucas, and let him in his room.

"Hey man." He said, letting Lucas come in. "Thanks so much for setting up the site last night Lucas." Bradin thanked him. "It was awesome." He said, slapping Lucas's hand.

"No problem man." He replied. "So?" He asked. "What happened last night?" He asked, wanting a full report of the events of the night. And sure enough Bradin was happy to tell him, leaving out one major aspect of the night.

"But did you tell her?" Lucas asked curiously.

"Tell her what?" Bradin asked, already knowing what Lucas was talking about.

Lucas rolled his eyes. "Dude, you know what I'm talking about. Did you tell her you…?" He asked, not having to finish the sentence since Bradin was already smiling.

"Yeah, I did." Bradin told him.

Lucas let out a big breath, smiling. "Finally man." He said, slapping Bradin's hand once more. They talked a bit more about it, how Bradin felt about telling Sam he loves her. It was easy for Bradin to talk about Sam to anyone, and he liked doing just that.

Later that night, Bradin drove over to Sam's house to pick her up. Sam heard him pull up, and quickly got her things together and made it down to the door just after Bradin rung their doorbell.

"Hey." She said, smiling, as she opened the door to see Bradin standing there and let him in.

"Hey Sam." He replied. He could see Maka and Matt walking up behind Sam. "Hey Mr. K. Wassup Matt." He said, shaking both of their hands.

Maka smiled at Sam, then turned to Bradin. "We hear that last night was quite a one month anniversary for the both of you." He said to Bradin.

"Dad." Sam said, her cheeks turning pink.

"Well, we just want to say we're very happy for the two of you." Maka said.

Matt nodded. "Yeah man, you've got a lucky girl with you." He smiled, slapping Bradin's hand.

Bradin looked at Sam and smiled. "Yeah, I do." He said, receiving a smile from Sam.

"Well, we better get going." Sam said, and kissed her brother and dad goodbye, and both Sam and Bradin headed out to dinner.

Even though they both had said 'I love you' to one another the previous night, nothing was that different between them. They didn't act any different than they had the night before. Saying 'I love you' seemed to be a big step in a couple's relationship, but to Sam and Bradin, it seemed as if they'd already said 'I love you' before, just non-verbally, through their talks, smiles, holding of hands, and just being together.

After dinner, Bradin and Sam went to a park and walked around it for a while, walking slowly with each other, hand in hand. With only the lamps guiding their way around the park, it was a perfectly romantic moment they shared, just as romantic as the night before.

Bradin and Sam spent the next days together as much as possible, since the following week they'd go back to school, and there wouldn't be much time to spend together. On Saturday, Matt headed back to school, but was returning two weeks later to help his dad out with a big session down at the radio station.

Monday morning was a bright and sunny day. Sam got on the school bus when it arrived at the bus stop, a little excited to get back to school, yet still disappointed her vacation was over. To her surprise, she saw Bradin walk on the bus, heading towards her.

"Hey." He said, sitting down next to Sam, then kissed her.

Sam smiled. "Hey to you too. How come you're catching the bus?" She asked him.

Bradin shrugged. "I don't know." He told her. "I guess I just wanted to start off my morning with you." He told her, making her smile. She propped her knees up on the seat in front of her, and leaned her head on his shoulder, taking his hand in hers.

Nikki watched them from the seat across from them. "Aww, aren't they cute?" She asked Cameron who was sitting next to her. "They said "I love you" to each other." She gushed quietly to Cameron.

Cameron's eyes grew. "Really?" He asked in shock, looking past Nikki at Sam and Bradin. "Hmm, I guess it makes sense. They seem pretty content with each other." He commented.

Even on their first day back to school, Coach Bedolla still called surf practice for that afternoon. He gathered the team up as usual, telling them that even though they just got back to school, he wouldn't be cutting them any slack. There was still that big competition coming up soon.

"But before I let you go, I think Robert and Sam would like to see this." He said, reaching into a box behind him. He pulled out two _Surf Style _magazines and tossed one to Sam and Robert. They both gasped, seeing a picture of the both of them on the front cover.

"Whoa!" Daniel exclaimed, looking over Robert's shoulder. Other members of the team stared at it in shock.

"I thought you'd like that." Coach Bedolla smirked. "Here guys." He said, handing more to other members of the team.

Sam and Robert looked quickly through the pages to find the ones that had their interviews on it.

"Here, page 22!" Sam said loudly, as Robert quickly turned to page 22. They both read the interviews to themselves, while other members of the team read it out loud.

" '…Never have we seen such persistence and talent from these two young rising stars.' " Sean read from his issue.

" 'I just grabbed a board, went out in the water, and I was hooked.' " said Tracey, reading a part of Robert's interview.

Bradin turned to page to see photos of both Robert and Sam. "This is amazing." He said to Sam.

Sam looked up at him. "Thanks. I can't believe we're actually in this." She looked to Robert and slapped his hand.

"We do look pretty good, don't we." Robert grinned, looking at pictures of himself.

With all this excitement from the magazine, the team barely remembered that they still had practice. Slowly, they took their copies of the magazine and put it with their things, getting ready to head out into the water. Bradin was about to walk off when Coach Bedolla called to him.

"How are you gonna practice without a wetsuit Westerly?" He asked him, half grinning.

Bradin, completely confused just stared at his coach. "But Coach, I'm suspended, remember?"

"Well, not anymore." He said calmly. "I've decided it's time you get back in the water." He half smiled.

Bradin and Lucas exchanged surprised looks. "Are you serious?" He asked.

"Let's just say I had a very merry Christmas." Coach Bedolla smirked. Tracey and Sean cracked up laughing, as Bradin slapped his coach's hand.

"Thanks Coach." He replied, and hurried off to get changed.

Sam paddled out into the water, and sat up on her board. She was waiting for the right wave to start off her practice when she saw Bradin paddling out.

"What, what are you doin' out here?" She asked him, surprised and confused.

He smiled. "Coach is letting me back on the team." He beamed. Sam, excited to hear the news gave Bradin a kiss, tasting the salt on his lips.

"Ugh, can't you save that for later?" They heard a voice say, and sure enough it was Sean, pretending to throw up. Sam and Bradin laughed it off, and together, they started catching some waves.

The first week back to school was amazing, better than anything Bradin could've thought of. He and Sam were having the time of their lives, Bradin was back on the surf team, and he doing better with his school work. As far as he could tell, things were really shaping up. After all his hard work of trying to turn over a new leaf, things were turning out for the best.


	22. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

For the past weeks that school's been back in session, Bradin has been feeling at the top of his game. Everything seemed to be going well, and he didn't want to do anything that would change that for him. But his hopes died on a Monday when he started a conversation with Lucas.

"Umm, so you gonna tell her?" Lucas asked, very vague about what he was talking about. Lucas had waited a few minutes into the conversation to ask Bradin about it.

"Gonna tell who about what?" Bradin asked.

Lucas looked around him for a moment, then turned back to Bradin. "Tell Sam about, the stuff you did before she showed up." He said, somewhat soft, but just loud enough for Bradin to hear.

Bradin's eyes narrowed. "You mean if I'm gonna tell Sam about Sarah, and Callie, and Erika, and my O.D.?" He asked, already knowing that's exactly what he was talking about.

"Yeah." He replied.

Bradin sighed, letting out a deep breath. He'd thought about, many times before. He told himself that when the time was right he'd tell Sam about all of it. He didn't want to hide anything from her, especially not about something as important as this. But he wasn't sure, at the time what Sam would do if he told her.

"I mean, you guys are pretty much set right now. So maybe she won't go psycho now that you guys have, y'know, said, well…" He said, knowing that Bradin knew what he meant.

Bradin dropped his head slightly. "I guess. I was thinking about telling after our one month." He told Lucas. "But then everything started turning out perfect." He said, clasping his hands together, resting his arms on his knees. "With school, the surf team, everything. And I didn't want to ruin any of it by telling her." He said softly, looking up at Lucas, who stared back. What seemed like 10 minutes flew by, with neither of them saying anything.

"Well, I think you should tell her now." Lucas offered his advice. "I mean, she told you she loves you man." He said, looking at Bradin. "You just gotta go with it now."

Bradin nodded his head slowly. "You're right." He sat there in silence for a while. "I guess I'll tell her tomorrow." He said to Lucas. _Tomorrow. _That word lingered in his head throughout the night and into the next day. He didn't want to tell her at school, so he waited until after school, but Sam rushed home, having to work on an essay. He didn't want to tell her over the phone either later that night, so he waited until Wednesday, hoping nothing else would interfere with his plan.

Sam and Bradin went out that night, after they both were done with their homework, just to go for a walk. They ended up walking along the beach, holding each other's hand, talking about whatever popped into their heads. Bradin, however, was thinking exactly how he was going to tell her before the night was done. He knew it'd be the best thing to do, to tell Sam about everything. She deserved to know, after all that they've already been through. But at the same time, Bradin couldn't help but fear for the worst reaction Sam could have upon hearing his news. They reached the staircase that led from the beach up to Sam's house. Sam started to walk up the stairs, but Bradin held her hand, pulling her back.

"What is it?" Sam asked him, coming back down a few steps.

"Umm," He began to say, clearing his throat. "Sit down, I wanna talk to you about something." He said, still holding hands, they sat down next to each other on the bottom step.

Sam looked at Bradin, waiting to hear what he had to say. He took a deep breath, and figured it was too late to turn back now.

"When you came to Playa Linda and joined the surf team, I wasn't able to surf." He said. Sam nodded her head, recalling that fact in her mind. "I wasn't able to surf because I was suspended."

"Uh huh." Sam replied, seeing no wrong in what he was saying. "So?"

"So, I was suspended because I had an overdose." He told her. "I had been taking drugs to make my performances better, so I'd surf better." She said, seeing Sam's happy face fade away. "I took so much at once, that I ended up in the hospital. My aunt and coach both decided that I shouldn't be able to surf for a while because of that." He said, looking up at Sam for the first time since he started to talk. He could tell that she looked troubled, trying to take in what he was saying.

"So, you were actually suspended for an overdose of drugs?" She asked him, needing to hear a confirmation.

Bradin nodded his head. "Yes."

Sam looked at her feet. "Okay." Then looked at Bradin, half smiling. "But now you're back on the team, and you can surf again. So I'm sure they think that you've learned your lesson, and you've changed." She said, trying to lighten the mood.

"You're right, I think they have." He told her. "But that's not all." He said, looking back at his hand that held Sam's. "Before you came, I'd been seeing some girls." He said.

"And?" She asked him, knowing there was more to it by the sound of his voice.

"There was Sarah, who at first, no one thought it was a good idea that I see her. It was because she was a little wild, dangerous, she also had a small drug problem." He said, taking a deep breath, not looking Sam. "She ended up lying about her family, and was about to run away, but I stopped her, and she ended up going to get some help, for her problem she had." He said, not going into full detail about the situation.

Sam half smiled. "So you helped her."

"Yeah, I guess." He paused, then drew his hand back from Sam's and put it over his mouth before he said anything. "But before that, we, we had-" He said, waiting for his words to reach his mouth. "We had sex." He finally said.

Sam then took a deep breath in and looked at Bradin. She couldn't believe what he said, but she couldn't take her eyes off of him. Not giving Sam enough time to say anything, Bradin started to speak again.

"There was also this girl, Erika." He said, speaking slower. "She actually started off as my surf coach, when I first moved out here. She was seeing Jay." Sam already could tell where this was going, but waited to see what Bradin would say about it. "We eventually started to like each other, and, well, we ended up together, behind Jay's back. And we eventually got caught, which set Jay off pretty bad." He said, and Sam was right with her guess on what he was going to say.

"Well," Sam said quietly, looking at her hands. "People make mistakes." Hoping that this was the last of his story, she got ready to stand up, but was stopped by Bradin continuing his story.

"But before her, was Callie." He told her, tears starting to form in his eyes. Sam was scared to hear this one, knowing that people usually kept the worst to tell last.

"Callie was from Kansas too, I met her while I was seeing Sarah. After Sarah left, I started seeing Callie. Everything was working out, it seemed so perfect. But then, one night, I didn't go home, but I stayed with Callie." Sam could feel her eyes burning, tears overflowing in her eyes.

"Then as the days went by, all I wanted was to sleep with her again. I wanted to so badly, I think I was pressuring her into having sex." He said, as Sam's tears fell from her eyes. Bradin could also feel his throat closing up.

"I couldn't take it anymore, I felt that I needed her, all the time. It was so bad, my aunt even caught us in my room. I felt so embarrassed, but I felt even worse for Callie. After that, nothing happened between us. I hurt her so much, just because I wanted to sleep with her." He said. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Moments passed and neither of them said anything. Bradin had dropped his head into his hands, just about ready to burst into tears, he could already hear Sam sniffling.

Sam, not sure of what to do at that moment, stared out to the ocean. The ocean seemed like the only place to be at peace, where everything was alright. With everything that she just heard, her head was throbbing, she even felt somewhat dizzy. She would have never thought that Bradin would do any of these things. She wanted it all to be a lie, but she knew it wasn't, which made her even more nauseated. She wiped her tears from her cheeks, and took a deep breath, knowing that she couldn't stay down here any longer.

Sam stood up, a little weak in the knees. "I-I-I uh," She stuttered. "I gotta go." She said, not knowing of anything else to say, and rushed up to her house, going as quietly as she could into her room, not wanting her dad to ask why she was crying.

Bradin sat there, his face in his hands, sobbing. He had never pictured it being this hard to tell her, he thought it wouldn't have turned out that way. After sitting there for about a half hour, just thinking of everything that he'd just done, he got up, and slowly walked back home.

Jay's light was still on when Bradin walked up the stairs. Jay must've heard Bradin come home, and opened the door to see him.

"Hey Bradin, so how was-" he stopped, noticing Bradin's red nose and puffy eyes. "Bradin, what happened?" He asked, very concerned.

Bradin shook his head. "Nothing." He lied trying not to start crying again.

"No Bradin, something happened, now you tell me." He said sternly, directing Bradin to sit down, and he obeyed. "Did something happen to Sam?" Jay asked, immediately knowing it had to have been about Sam, if it'd made Bradin cry.

"I-I, told Sam," He began to say, feeling the tears return to his eyes.

"Yes?" Jay asked.

"I told Sam everything." He finally said. "I told her about Sarah, Callie, Erika, even my O.D." He said, starting to get a bit hysterical at this point. "I told her Jay, I really told her. I thought everything would be okay, I never would've imagined this…" He trailed off.

"Ah Bradin." Jay said, taking Bradin into his arms as he tried to comfort him. "It's okay, everything is gonna be fine." He said, hoping that Bradin was listening, but something told him he wasn't. This was the first time he'd seen Bradin be so upset and hurt about something that he ended up crying.

Bradin felt hopeless, not knowing what he was going to do tomorrow when he'd see Sam in school. Jay helped Bradin into his bed, telling him that things will get better tomorrow, and that he'd have to tell Ava about it in the morning. Jay left his room silently.

As the door closed, Bradin turned over on his side, tears still falling, this time straight across his face and onto his pillow. All he wanted at that moment was to take it back. If it meant that he wouldn't have told Sam about what he'd done, if meant that she wouldn't have gone up to her house silently, crying, then he would've. All he wanted was everything to be as good as it had been an hour ago. Still crying, Bradin slowly drifted off to sleep, thinking about tomorrow and Sam.


	23. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

As hard as it was to tell Jay about what happened Wednesday night, it was just as hard to explain it to Ava, Susannah and Colby the next morning. It was even harder for Bradin to tell them with both Nikki and Derrick listening. He felt like an idiot, telling them everything that happened. No matter how many times they told Bradin, "It's not your fault", "You did the right thing", or "She'll come around", Bradin couldn't help but think that none of those things were true.

Sam got up that morning, not knowing how to handle this problem with her dad. So she tried as hard as she could to quickly eat breakfast, and headed out for school, barely saying anything to her dad. She was relived when he didn't question her about why she was so quiet, but worried about what she'd do when she saw Bradin at school.

Sam arrived at school and got off the school bus. She braced herself as she entered the school building and went to her locker. She wasn't sure if she wanted, or didn't want Bradin to be waiting there. She figured if he was there, she'd have nothing to say to him, seeing that she couldn't think of anything reasonable to say. Luckily, she turned the corner and saw no Bradin waiting by her locker. She quickly got her things out, and headed to her homeroom, without saying anything to anyone as she passed. Daniel tried to talk to her about a move he was trying to do on his surf board, but she barely paid any attention to him. She was dreading going through this whole day of school, and knew that going to AP World Economics wouldn't help her situation.

Even though Sam told Avery off during Christmas break, he was still perusing her, hoping she'd dump Bradin and go out with him instead. Till this day, Sam had never pictured that happening, but she wondered what would happen if she did end her relationship with Bradin. Just the thought of it made her eyes burn.

"So Sam, you wanna have lunch with me today?" Avery grinned as Sam passed by his desk on the way out of the classroom.

"Leave me alone Avery." She said, with no expression on her face. She stepped into the hallway without giving Avery a chance to respond.

Third period came, and she knew this would be the first time that she'd see Bradin that day. She took her time walking to class, not anticipating sitting next to Bradin. But as she heard the warning bell ring, she quickened her pace. She walked into the classroom, majority of the students were already settling in their seats. And there was Bradin, his head bowed, not looking at anyone, his hands resting on the table. Sam pulled out her chair and quietly sat down. Bradin suddenly looked up as he felt the table move. They both looked up and stared at each other for a long moment.

"Hi Sam." He said quietly, hoping she'd respond.

"Hi." She replied, and that was all they said for the entire class. Even though they had a lab experiment to do, and they could hear their classmates talking and discussing things about the experiment, neither of them knew what to say.

So many times Bradin wanted to tell her he was sorry, that he just wanted to be honest with her. Sam also wanted to tell Bradin that she understood him wanting to be truthful, but that this truth hurt her so much. They ended up not speaking their minds, and left class separately, Sam leaving first. Bradin stayed behind and propped his elbows on the table and rested his head in his hands. He couldn't believe that he had said nothing to her. Anger filled his head, and he stormed out of the classroom, upset about doing nothing.

"Bradin!" Lucas called to him from down the hall. He rushed to catch up with Bradin. "So, did you tell her?" He asked.

Bradin sighed. "Yeah man, I did." He told him, starting to replay the whole thing in his head.

"And? How'd it go?" Just at that moment, they both saw Sam walking past them in the opposite direction going to her next class. She neither looked at or said anything to Lucas or Bradin, but kept her focus on the group of people in front of her.

Lucas looked to Bradin who watched Sam walk down the hall. "Not too good huh." He said.

"Nah man, not too good." Bradin replied. Lucas patted Bradin on the shoulder and they both walked down the hall together.

Lunch came rather quickly that day, and Bradin was already sitting at their table when he saw Sam walking past them.

"Hey Sam, aren't you gonna have lunch?" Tracey asked, already half way through his beef stew.

Sam looked around the table quickly. "Oh no, I'm not hungry. I'm just gonna, go some place quiet." She told them. She looked at Bradin who was staring back, she could see him wanting her to sit down, but she couldn't, there'd be nothing to say. She turned away and headed off.

Everyone looked at Bradin, confused. "Hey man, what's up with you and Sam?" Sean asked.

"Yeah, something happen between you two?" Daniel asked.

"Nothin' man, it's nothin'." Bradin said, playing with his food with his fork. He looked to Lucas, who was sitting across from him.

"Yeah, y'know girls…" He told the rest of them. Bradin looked up to watch Sam walk away.

Sam found a cubicle in the library and sat down. She took her MP3 player out and started listening to her music. She closed her eyes, fighting the urge she had to cry. She stayed there the whole lunch period, doing nothing but letting the lyrics soak into her head.

That night her dad was working late at the radio station, so she was home by herself. Matt called, to tell her when his flight was coming in the next night.

"Are you picking' me up, or is dad?" He asked her over the phone.

Sam finished her sentence of her French homework. "I think I am." She told him.

"Hey, somethin' up?" He asked her, noticing that she didn't sound the same. It wasn't as if she was sick, but it sounded like she had a problem, and being an older brother he wanted to know what it was.

"Nothin', I'm fine." She lied.

"Yeah right. Well, whatever you're not telling me, I'll find out once I'm there." He said, making her roll her eyes.

"Bye Matt." She said, not wanting this conversation to go on.

"Bye." He replied, and they hung up.

Friday was just like Thursday, Bradin and Sam hardly said anything to each other. They both received 25 out of 25 on their lab from the previous day, and they both shared one word of acknowledgement: "Cool" and "Awesome".

Sam walked out of the cafeteria and walked by their table, seeing all the guys already sitting. She just grabbed a sandwich for lunch, and headed off someplace to eat by herself. Upset about how everything was going, Bradin got up and left lunch as well. Lucas followed him, trying to calm him and tell him that it'll shape up soon. But it didn't, not at surf practice. Bradin's surfing wasn't the best that afternoon, and Coach Bedolla picked up on it.

"Bradin!" He called as Bradin jogged up the beach. "Man, what is goin' on out there?" He asked sternly. "I thought you were happy I let you back on the team."

"I am." Bradin replied angrily. "I'm just, I'm just out of it today, that's all." He replied stubbornly.

Coach Bedolla narrowed his eyes. "Well, you better do something about it, and do it soon." He told Bradin, then walked off to watch the other boys.

Sam went to pick up Matt from the airport that evening, while he tried to get her to tell him what was bothering her the entire drive home.

"Will you stop asking me about it!" Sam said loudly as she walked in the door. She walked into the kitchen, dropped the keys on the counter and said hi to her dad.

Matt followed her, greeting his dad with a hug, then preceded to follow Sam into the living room.

"C'mon, something is up, and I wanna know what it is." Matt said angrily.

Maka followed the two of them into the living room, seeing Sam slouched in one of the chairs, and Matt standing in front of her. "Sam, what's going on?"

"Nothing." She sneered.

Matt glared at her. "There's somethin' wrong with her, and she's not telling' me what it is." Matt said, looking at his dad. "Do you know what's up with her?"

Maka looked at Sam. "You have been rather quiet Sam, there is something wrong, isn't there?" He asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

"Look, I'd rather not talk about it right now, okay." She told them. She knew she'd have to tell both her dad and brother some time soon, but she didn't want it to be now. Sam rubbed her temples, starting to get angry. "It's something I have to handle by myself." She told them, closing her eyes.

"Well, that's fine if you need to handle it yourself." Maka said. "But while you're in this house, I'm not gonna have the two of you at it with each other. So you tell us what's wrong." He said sternly, really taking on the fatherly job he lacked most of the time.

Sam looked up at the two of them. Maka was still sitting on the arm of the couch, and Matt had just taken a seat next to his dad on the couch.

"Fine." She said, thinking of a way to begin. She thought for a few moments, then took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. "It's about Bradin." She said. Matt flinched, knowing it couldn't be anything good.

Sam told them everything Bradin had said to her. After she was through, neither Matt nor Maka said anything for several minutes, but just looked aimlessly around the room, breathing slowly.

"So you're sure he meant all of this, it's not just a game?" Matt said quietly.

Sam looked at him. "Matt, he wouldn't play about something like this." She told him, annoyed that he even thought that Bradin would make it all up.

Maka finally caught Sam's eye. "Look, I know you want all of this to go away, but it's not going to." He said slowly. "You probably want everything to go back to how it was before, but it can't Sam. Regardless of what you think about it, you need to know our sides of it, because you are my daughter, and Matt's sister." He told her.

"And my view on it, is that you better think seriously about this boy. If you really do love him, if you think he wouldn't try anything with you, or wouldn't force you to do anything, then you go ahead and tell him that. Tell him that you still love him. But if you don't believe in him, you don't trust him anymore," He looked straight at Sam, leaning forward. "Then you need to end it. Because I do not want you to be in any danger, to feel the least bit safe around this boy." He said.

Matt looked at his father, seeing if it was okay for him to voice his own opinion. "And I think you should trash this kid." He said plainly. "He doesn't deserve you."

Sam looked at him, her eyes starting to tear. "I thought you liked Bradin?"

Matt laughed uneasily. "Man, I thought I did. But some things can change a person's mind pretty fast." He told her.

Sam ate dinner with her dad and brother, no one saying much of anything, with Maka occasionally talking with Matt about school. Sam spent the rest of the night in her room, thinking about what her brother and dad had said. Before she got in bed, she sat on the edge of her bed, bent over, her arms resting on her knees.

"Mom…" She said to herself, quietly, feeling her eyes water. "Mom, help me. I have no idea what to do. I want to believe both dad and Matt about this, but I just don't know what to." She stopped when the tears started to run down her face. "I love Bradin, I know I still do. But I have no idea how to face him, I can barely say anything to him when I see him. I need you here with me, to help me through this."

She dropped her head back, looking at the ceiling of her room. She quietly got herself into bed, and slowly drifted off to bed as her tears settled on her pillow.


	24. Chapter 22

Oh my goodness! It's like I've been gone for years! Okay, I haven't updated my story in months due to the lack of internet access. It's completely lame and I'm stuck without it for who knows how long. So, I'm trying to see if this is going to work. If it does, this will be one of the few updates I'll make until I get the internet back. I hope I get it back soon, because I know you guys have been waiting for the next chapters. So, hopefully this works and you have something to read for a while. Thanks for being so patient everyone! Peace.

-goodfortune14

* * *

Chapter 22

The next morning she got up a little earlier to go to surf practice. Matt was going down to the radio station to help Maka. Sam didn't want to stick around too long to have either of them ask her something about Bradin. So she had a quick breakfast and headed down to the beach. She got there earlier enough to help Coach Bedolla set up their site.

"So, you and Bradin doin' okay?" He asked her as the finished putting up the small tent above their things.

Sam looked out to the ocean, then back to her coach. "Yeah, I guess." She told him, not really wanting to talk about it with him. The boys arrived soon, Bradin arriving with Lucas and Daniel. Practice went by fast, because as soon as they knew it they were all packing up their things. Sam left so quickly that no one had the chance to ask if she was going with them to lunch. But Bradin and Lucas knew the answer would be no even if they did have the time to ask.

Sam got home and took a quick shower, getting most of the salt water out of her hair, then made herself some lunch. She ended up watching _School of Rock_ her dad got for her for her previous birthday. She loved watching that movie, for the music and the humor. Some of the stress inside of her left by the time the movie was through, but quickly returned when Matt got home.

Sam looked up from her homework sprawled out on the dinning table. "I thought you were with dad."

"I was, but he said to take a break. But there wasn't anywhere I wanted to go, so I headed home." He told her. Sam nodded. Several moments went by with neither of them saying anything. "So, you gonna dump him or what?" He asked bluntly, making Sam drop her pen on her textbook.

"Matt." She said angrily. "Will you just let me deal with this by myself?" She asked, but not really looking for him to answer.

"Sure. As long as you tell me you're ditching him." He told her.

Sam slam her book shut, put her notebook and binder on her textbook and gathered them up. She got out of her chair and stormed pass Matt, heading up the stairs.

"Hey, where you goin'?" Matt said loudly, following her to her room.

"Where do you think, genius?" She shouted sarcastically. She knew Matt wouldn't leave her alone, so she got even more mad.

Sam walked into her room, with Matt stopping in her doorway. "Hey!" He shouted at her.

Sam threw her books on her homework on her bed, making everything fall all over it. "What do you want!" She said loudly, feeling her face get red. "Do you want me to tell you that I hate Bradin, that I hate the fact that he did any of those things? That I wish I never went out with him, that I did tell him I love him? Is that what you want me to say?" She said loudly, her voice getting louder after every sentence.

Matt stood, there, shocked. Sam hadn't yelled at him like that in a long time. He knew he really got her mad.

"That's what you want me to do right, tell him off, break up with him, because you think he's a jackass, he's a loser, he's a punk for doing all those things, right?" She stood there, breathing heavily.

"Look, Sam," He tried not to get upset. "It's not that I don't want you to still see him," He was only telling her half the truth. "But I don't want you to get hurt, that's all." He said sympathetically, really meaning it.

Sam looked up at him. "Neither do I." She took a deep breath, then a stream of tears fell from her eye.

Matt walked into her room. "Sam, I just want you to know you're safe."

"I do too Matt." She said, sounding helpless. "I know that what everything Bradin said was true. I know he wouldn't lie about anything like that." She sobbed. "But I also wanna believe him when he said he really did change. That he was changing, trying to live differently, because I still want to be with him." She started to burst into tears as Matt stepped towards her and hugged her, letting her lean on his shoulder. They stood there for several minutes while Sam cried. After she settled down, Matt agreed to let Sam solve this problem on her own. He just wanted what would be best for her, as her older brother, he wanted to protect her.

"I know you wanna protect me." She told him, her eyes puffy. "But some things I need to do myself."

Matt nodded, trying to smile. "You're right. But you're still my kid sister." He smiled, tossing his arm around her shoulder, making the both of them laugh. Matt headed back to his dad's radio station while Sam stayed at home, and attempted to finish her homework that she really didn't want to do. For the entire night, and the morning and afternoon of Sunday, she constantly thought of Bradin. She finally decided she'd do something about it, that'd she'd go and talk to him. She needed to tell him what she thought, what she really needed to say to him about everything. She knew she had to do it some time or another, and she didn't want to go through another week of school and surf practice without having done anything with this situation. So she kept telling herself to do it, that this would be as good as any other time to talk to him. It was time for the both of them to talk about it with each other.


	25. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Sam told her dad and brother about going to talk to Bradin about everything that had happened in the past few days. Matt at first wasn't too happy to hear that, but he soon eased up about it, knowing that Sam knew what she was doing. Maka was also hesitant about the whole thing, but tried to think positively about. He knew Sam would end up doing what was right.

"Nikki, Cam called, he asked about your English paper." Susannah said to Nikki as she came back down stairs. "He said to call him back about it, so you guys can talk about it, or something." She said, clearing the table with Ava.

Nikki frowned. "You go to the bathroom for two minutes, and you miss such an important call!" She over-exaggerated.

Ava smiled. "Of course Nikki! Any call from Cam is so important!" She said, making Susannah laugh.

"Jay, are you gonna help me with my poster? I don't think Bradin's up to it anymore." Derrick said to Jay.

Bradin hadn't been all there for the past few days. He ate dinner that night very quietly, barely saying anything to anyone else. After dinner he went quietly down to the beach by himself, wanting to be alone with his thoughts.

Jay nodded. "Yeah man, I think I'll be able to help you. We should just let Bradin have some time alone." Jay said, patting Derrick on the shoulder. As Nikki picked up the phone to call Cam, the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it." Ava said, wiping her hands and going to the door. She opened it, and to her surprise it was Sam. "Hi Sam." She said awkwardly.

"Hi Ms. Gregory." Sam replied.

"Umm, why don't you come in." She stepped aside, letting Sam walk in. Sam walked into the living room to see everyone stare at her. "Hi." She said, trying to smile.

Everyone stopped what they were doing, Nikki even stopped mid-sentence with her conversation with Cam. No one was quite sure what to do, this had been the first time they'd seen Sam since Bradin talked to her on Wednesday.

"So, umm, are you doing okay?" Ava asked her politely.

Sam nodded. "I'm okay, I've been better." She replied, everyone knowing what she meant by that. "Is Bradin here?" Sam asked after a few moments went by.

Ava nodded. "Yeah, he went down to the beach."

"I'm sure he'll be happy to see you." Jay commented, smiling. Sam smiled back.

"We know it's been hard on you, Sam." Ava told her.

"But trust us, he has changed." Susannah added from the dinning table. "He really has."

Sam nodded, telling herself that they were absolutely right. Derrick then got up and rushed over to Sam.

"Are you and Bradin gonna start talking again?" He asked her. "Is everything gonna be okay again?"

Sam smiled. "I hope so." And with that, she walked out and down the stairs to find Bradin sitting on the bottom step, gazing out at the ocean.

Sam took a deep breath in as she approached him. "Hey Bradin." She said, stepping on the bottom step.

Startled, Bradin stood up. "Hi Sam." They stood there awkwardly, then they both started to say something, then stopped.

"Let me go first." Sam told him. "I'm sorry for how I acted. I shouldn't have just left you down there on Wednesday. It wasn't right of me to do that." She told him.

Bradin looked at his feet. "I don't blame you."

Sam looked around her, then continued. "Look, I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few days. At home, at school, at practice. That's all I've been doing, thinking about you.

Bradin looked up at her. "Me too."

She smiled. "And I realized that you must've really wanted me to know about your past. You really did want to be honest with me, and let me know about the things you've done. And I'm really glad you did." She paused, breathing slowly. "Not many guys would've told me that. They probably would've hoped that I just wouldn't have found out, but you wanted to tell me."

"I did. I thought you should know, I didn't want to keep anything from you." He told her, looking straight at her.

"And you didn't. You told me." She took a few steps out onto the sand. "My dad, and Matt, at first told me to break up with you," She said, Bradin frowned when he heard that. "But then they said to do whatever I felt was right. What I thought would be best, for the both of us." She turned to look at Bradin. "So, I finally figured out what I thought was right." Bradin took a step towards her, and she took several steps back towards him.

"Even though you might've slept with other girls, that you had an overdose of drugs," She paused, looking straight into his eyes. "I will still love you. I do still love you." She said. She felt as if the burden she'd been holding for days lifted from her chest. "This Bradin, this Bradin that I'm standing here with, this is who I love. You might have your past still with you, but that's your past. And I'm here, with you, in the present, and hopefully in your future." She took both his hands. "I wouldn't give up our relationship for anything in the world. You are my world, and I love you." She said, smiling.

Bradin looked into her eyes, smiling as well. "I love you too Sam. And I always will." He replied, squeezing both her hands. Sam then wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him so tightly, it felt as if she'd never let him. They stood there for several minutes, just being close to each other, not saying anything.

After some time, Sam and Bradin walked back up the stairs and into his living room. Everyone turned to see them walking in, hand in hand. Ava beamed with happiness.

"I'm gonna walk Sam home." Bradin told them as they passed through the living room.

Ava nodded, watching them head to the door.

"G'night everyone." Sam said quietly as they all waved goodbye to her.

Sam and Bradin walked together, holding each other's hand tightly. They barely spoke, just knowing that being with each other was enough. Sam was happy she had the courage to go and talk with Bradin. Everything was settled, and hopefully everything would end up the way that it was before. They reached Sam's house, and Bradin gently kissed Sam goodnight. As Sam walked in, her dad and brother looked to see if everything was alright. Sam was smiling, and nodded her head, meaning everything went fine. Maka smiled, now able to relax and not worry about Sam. Matt was also happy for Sam, she did what she felt was right, and whatever she felt was right, was okay for Matt.

Sam got ready for bed and tucked herself under the covers. She looked up at her bulletin board to see several random pictures she had of Bradin and herself. She smiled to herself, knowing that things were now settled. She closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.


	26. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Matt was able to be excused from his classes on Monday, so he left in the morning to go back to college. He hugged and kissed Sam goodbye before she left for school. He told her how much he cared about her, and as long as she was happy about the Bradin issue, so was he. Sam got to school with just enough time to rush to her locker and run to her homeroom before the bell rang.

In AP World Economics, Avery was especially awake in class, now finding out that Bradin and Sam weren't spending as much time together; said a junior on the basketball team that morning. Avery got up from his seat when the bell rang, but stopped once he got out of the doorway.

"Hey." He saw Sam step out of the classroom. He was waiting for her, leaning against some lockers until she came out. "So, I heard some stuff between you and Westerly." What is it with guys calling each other by their last name when they don't like them, she wondered. She didn't say anything, but Avery kept following her.

"Someone told me you guys aren't talking to each other. I'm sorry." He tried sounding sympathetic, but it was a very weak attempt. "If you want, you can have lunch with me, I noticed you didn't eat lunch last week." He said to her.

"No thanks." Sam replied, and without letting him say anything in return, she turned the corner quickly, leaving Avery standing there alone.

Bradin was already sitting in his seat in physics when Sam got there. Their classmates noticed last week that Bradin and Sam barely said anything to each other, so they figured something went on between the two of them, but no one pressed upon the matter. They just waited and watched to see what happened. To their surprise, Bradin got up and pulled out Sam's chair, then kissed her lightly when they sat down. No one quite understood the combination of their behavior the week before compared to today's.

Lunch was baked chicken, something that most of the kids actually liked. Sam came out of the cafeteria with her tray, walking towards her regular table. It was nice to have the thought that she could actually talk to the rest of the guys and not feel weird anymore. Unfortunately, when she saw her friends, she also saw Avery.

"So I guess you're eating lunch today." Avery said, stating the oblivious.

Sam looked blankly at Avery. "Yeah, I guess I am."

Avery smiled. "So you wanna have lunch at my table?" He asked, gesturing back to where he came from. "'Cause y'know, I was thinking-" He then saw Bradin walking up to them.

"Hey Sam." He turned to Avery, not saying anything.

"So, you ready? I'm hungry." Sam asked Bradin, he nodded.

Avery looked at the two of them, somewhat surprised. "Oh, you're having lunch with him?" He asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah."

"Yeah Sam, we should get going." He said, mentally saying, _"That means leave Avery." _

Avery picked up on the hint, and decided to drop the invite. "I guess I'll see you in class then." He said to Sam, then awkwardly turned around to go back to his table.

Sam and Bradin turned to their friends. "Uh, we're gonna go have lunch by ourselves." Bradin said to them.

"See ya guys." Sam smiled, then she and Bradin walked off to go eat under a tree by themselves. They ate together, feeling better that they now can be next to each other and not feel weird about it.

They spent the rest of the week together, making up for those few days they didn't talk to each other. At school, surf practice, and on the phone, they just liked being together and hearing each other's voice.

Thursday was their two month anniversary, and they planned on going out to dinner. Bradin was a bit nervous going to pick up Sam that night. He wasn't sure what Sam's dad would think of him after all that happened.

"Hi Bradin, come on in, Sam'll be down soon." Maka opened the door and let him in.

"Thanks Mr. K." Bradin replied, walking in. He walked into the living room, hoping that Sam would come down soon. Maka and Bradin stood there awkwardly in silence. Maka finally decided it would be best to let Bradin know what he thought about everything.

"Bradin," He began to say. "Sam told me what you told her last week."

Bradin nodded slowly. "Yeah, I figured she did."

"And as a father, I'm not sure how I should take it, all the things that you've done, at your age." He sounded very much like a father. "I just want to know my daughter is safe, and I felt that she was safe with you."

Bradin looked up. "She still is." He said quickly. "I swear, I wouldn't do anything to hurt her, ever." He said sincerely.

Maka nodded, looking straight at Bradin. "I know. I know you two care a lot about each other, and I respect that. Just know, that if anything does happen between you two, in a bad sense, I don't think I'll ever let her see you again." He warned. Bradin nodded with full understanding.

"But even though I may sound pretty harsh on you right now," Maka lightened his tone. "I want you to know that as long as Sam's okay with it, so am I." He smiled for the first time Bradin walked in.

"Thanks Mr. K. I promise, I won't let my past come back to me." He told him. Then he saw Sam come into the living room.

"Hi Bradin." She said, and kissed him. "We won't be late." She told her dad, then kissed his cheek goodbye.

"Bye Mr. K. And thanks for understanding." Bradin smiled faintly.

Maka nodded. "You have a good time." He watched them leave and smiled to himself.

Bradin and Sam had a nice, simple dinner together. Nothing too fancy, but just right for where they were with their relationship. After dinner, they wandered around, just talking with each other. It ended up being a nice, sweet two month anniversary. They were both relived they settled everything before that day. Now the next thing they had to think about was Valentine's Day, the upcoming Monday.


	27. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Bradin wanted to make Valentine's day with Sam the best. He wanted it to be just as special as their first anniversary dinner was, so he spent most of his weekend thinking up of a plan. He had ideas from January that he thought of doing for Valentine's, but he wasn't sure which one to go through with. He did however remember that he had to pick up something for Sam before Monday. He hadn't planned on having that little problem with Sam back in January, so he went with his idea. He was relieved that things were fixed now, and that he could give Sam what he'd picked up a while ago.

Playa Linda High was filled with cards, balloons, flowers, stuffed teddy bears, and candy. Couples were seen freely in the halls, sharing their Valentine's day together. Single people were also sharing things with their friends. One girl expressed that even though she didn't have a boyfriend to spend the day with, she still had her friends that'll always be there for her.

"So, I'll pick you up around 6:30, is that okay?" Bradin asked Sam after lunch.

"Sure." Sam replied. Bradin walked Sam to her calculus class. When they got there, they kissed and said goodbye.

That afternoon, Bradin walked Sam home to help her carry her things. They caught up to Cam and Nikki who were also walking home.

Cam held a medium sized teddy bear and flower he got for Nikki. "So, we still going out tonight, right?" He asked her.

Nikki smiled. "Yep. My aunt Ava said it was okay." Nikki looked at Cam who seemed to be having trouble carrying his books, Nikki's things, along with what she got for him.

Nikki smiled and kissed him. "Here, I'll help you."

Sam and Bradin turned the corner after they passed Cam and Nikki. "They're so cute." Sam smiled, looking back at the two of them.

"Hmm…" Bradin turned to see the two walking together. "Cute isn't exactly the word I was looking for." He said in a brotherly tone.

Sam bumped into Bradin, knowing he didn't like seeing Cam and Nikki acting like boyfriend and girlfriend, even though they were. Bradin turned around to see Sam smiling, and he smiled back.

"Don't be too hard on her, I'm mean, she is a girl ya know." Sam told him.

"Yeah, but she's still my sister. And she and Cam have been spending a lot of time together." He told her. "I can't help it, I'm a big brother."

Sam smiled. "Well at least it shows you care." She kissed him and took his free hand in hers.

"Hey dad, how come you're home so early?" Sam found her dad in the dinning room with papers spread out in front of him.

"I gotta plan this special anniversary of Van Halen's first premier on the radio station." He shuffled through some of the papers than looked up to Sam. His eyes widened when he saw what she was carrying. "Whoa, that's from how many boys?" He asked her.

Sam rolled her eyes. "Just one dad."

Maka let out a deep breath. "Whew! Good, 'cause I don't think Bradin would be too happy if it wasn't from him." He joked.

Sam placed down a white teddy bear holding a heart that said 'I love you', a box of chocolates that were already have eaten, and a couple cards, a few that Bradin made himself. She also tied two heart shaped balloons to one of the dinning table chairs.

"Wow." Maka said. "So it was a good day?" He asked, already knowing it was.

Sam smiled. "Yep, sure was." She took her backpack off and got a cup of water from the kitchen. "He's coming over around 6:30 to pick me up." She said when she walked into the dinning room.

"Don't you have practice today? Or homework?" Maka asked her.

She shook her head. "Nope. Coach called off practice, said he had an 'appointment' with someone." She smirked, knowing he probably had a date. "And all the teachers didn't see a point in giving us homework 'cause none of us would do any of it."

Maka nodded. "Makes sense." Sam got her backpack and headed upstairs as Maka went back to making a list of songs.

* * *

Sam heard the doorbell ring and quickly put in her earrings and grabbed her bag and headed down the stairs. Bradin was already waiting in the living room when she came down the stairs.

"Happy Valentine's." Bradin held up a bouquet of red roses for her. She walked towards him and kissed him.

"Thanks." She quickly went in the kitchen to put the flowers in a vase, when she saw a vase with water already sitting on the counter. Her dad must've gotten it ready for her.

"Well, you two must have plans." Maka said as Sam entered the living room. "You guys have fun." He kissed Sam's cheek. "But not too much fun." He smiled, looking at Sam then to Bradin.

"Bye dad." Sam replied. Bradin waved, and walked Sam out of the house and to his car. Bradin knew that lots of kids from school were probably having dinner as well, so he picked a restaurant a little out of the way from home, that wouldn't be as crowded with his classmates. It was an open restaurant where they could look out to the ocean. It was a nice, simple restaurant, not too fancy for a couple of teenagers, but just right.

"So, where's Nikki and Cam going tonight?" Sam asked Bradin.

Bradin sighed. "She said they're going to dinner." He told her. "I didn't like what she was wearing though."

"Why, what was she wearing?"

"Well, I think it was this light blue dress or something." He told her.

Sam shrugged. "That doesn't sound bad."

Bradin's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, but it was shorter than her finger tips at her side." He said, annoyed.

Sam smiled and chuckle a little. "Don't worry big bro, she'll be fine." She reached over and took his hand.

After dinner Bradin took Sam to an area on a nearby beach. There was a pathway from the sidewalk to a little pavilion that had a gazebo. Outside the gazebo, there were benches and a swing attached to a tree. Bradin walked over to the swing and gestured to Sam to sit down.

"I used to love going to the park and going on the swing set." She told him as he began pushing her on the swing.

Bradin smiled. "I remember taking Nikki when she was little to a park by our school." He said. "She loved it when I pushed her, she went so high on the swing. It looked like she could just fly. Then when Derrick was born, and when I took him to the park, he loved it."

Sam smiled. "You really are a caring brother." She said softly. "You care a lot about Nikki and Derrick. Even though I see you and Derrick pushing each other around, or you getting mad at Nikki and Cam, you're a good older brother for them."

Bradin chuckled. "Yeah, most of the time. But what about Matt? I'm sure he was a good older brother."

"He was." Sam said slowly. "When I was younger, Matt was the kinda brother who was always there, whether you liked it or not. And I was the kinda sister who loved it when he was around, and who'd follow him around all day. I guess that's how I picked up surfing, when my dad used to take him to the beach. I wouldn't let them go unless they took me with them." She smiled to herself, Bradin still pushing her.

"I remember he walked me to my class in kindergarten. He told me when I got to the door, 'Don't worry, you'll do great. And if anyone messes with you, I'll take care of 'em, no problem.'. He was protective of me, a lot. But I didn't mind it, that just meant to me that he cared."

Bradin nodded. "I know what it's like. I'm like that way with Nikki, Derrick too. I want both of them to be safe." Bradin pushed Sam on the swing for a while, then they both ventured off into the gazebo. They stood at one end of it, looking out at the crashing waves against the shore.

While they were standing there, Bradin fiddled with something in his pocket. "Sam." He said, making her turn towards him.

"Mmhmm."

A smile appeared from one side of his face to the other. "Happy Valentine's day." He said, pulling out a small box from his pocket.

She took the box and held it in her hands, smiling at him. "What is it?" She asked happily.

"Open it." He replied. He watched Sam crack open the box, and saw her eyes glow when she saw what was in it.

"Bradin, it's beautiful." She said. In the box was a gold necklace with a gold heart locket attached to it. She took the necklace out of the box to examine it. Bradin took the box from her as she opened the locket. Inside was a picture of both herself and Bradin. She turned the necklace around to look at the back of the heart, and something was engraved in it. It read, "12-10-04, S.K and B.W."

She looked up at Bradin, almost in tears. "This is amazing." She said softly. "How did you, you must've spent-"

"Don't worry about it." Bradin cut her off, smiling. He took the necklace from her and put it around her neck.

Bradin took her hands and smiled. "Happy Valentine's day Sam. I love you."

Sam smiled back. "I love you too Bradin." She said, hugging him tightly. They separated and kissed each other. They spent the rest of the night walking on the beach together. Sam held Bradin's hand tightly with one hand, and played with her locket with the other.


	28. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The next day at school was a day for all the girls to show off whatever jewelry their boyfriends got them for Valentine's day. You could see new rings, bracelets, charms, and necklaces being seen all over campus. But Sam wasn't into showing off anything to anyone. She was perfectly content with walking down the hall with her necklace around her neck, not calling attention to anyone.

"So, what'd Bradin get you?" Krystal asked in the lunch line. "Lucas was telling me he got you something real good." She winked.

Sam smiled and a laughed a little. "This." She said, and showed her the locket.

"Oh my gosh." Krystal gasped. She took the locket in her hands and opened it. "Oh that's so sweet." She gushed.

Sam smiled and they walked out of the cafeteria.

"Bradin must really be in love with you." Krystal said.

"Yeah, I think he is." Sam smiled. "So what'd you and Lucas do last night? I mean, you have been spending as much time together as Bradin and I have."

Krystal smiled to herself before answering. "Well, we went out to dinner. It wasn't that romantic since half the school was at the same restaurant." She explained. Sam was then relived that they went to a restaurant that wasn't infested with kids from their school. "But after we had a walk in the park and talked a little. And then, well, we told each other…" She smiled again. "We said 'I love you'." She squealed.

Sam smiled. "Really? That's awesome!" She said, trying to give Krystal a hug without making either of them drop their lunches. They reached the table, and all the guys were already there.

"Hey guys." Sam said. She sat down next to Bradin and kissed him gently.

Lucas got up and walked to stand next to Krystal. "We'll see you guys later." He told them. Krystal waved goodbye and followed Lucas off so they could have lunch together.

"Where they off to?" Sean asked.

Daniel shrugged. "Heck if I know." He continued eating his lunch.

Sam smiled. "They told each other 'I love you' last night." She said to Bradin. "Krystal's so happy it seems as if she could fly."

"I know she feels." Bradin smiled, then took Sam's hand into his.

For the next few days, Avery noticed that Sam was wearing a necklace to school. She usually didn't wear necklaces, and all of a sudden she was wearing a gold one. He figured it must've come from Bradin as a Valentine's gift. It should've stopped him from thinking that he could break up Sam and Bradin, but he never gives up on things he really wants. And he really wanted Sam as his girlfriend.

Avery heard during fifth period that Daniel was having a party at his house on Friday night. Most of the guys on the surf team was planning on showing up, along with some of Daniel's other friends that weren't on the team. Avery saw it as appropriate that he represent the senior class and show up at every party that's thrown by someone in school. So he decided he'd go to Daniel's party with his friends, even if he wasn't technically invited.

"Hey guys, enjoyin' the party?" Daniel asked. He was making his way around his patio where most of the people were. His house was like Bradin and Sam's, where it connected to the beach. Lucas, Krystal, Sam and Bradin were all outside talking while Daniel made his way around the party.

"Hey man, how'd you get your parents to let you throw this party?" Lucas asked over the music.

Daniel grinned. "Well, they told me I could throw one party a year. Ya know, Halloween, Christmas, or some random party. I forgot about that deal last year, and the year before, the party I threw, only 4 people came. So they said I actually deserved this one." He told them.

"Well, I think it's goin' pretty good so far." Sam commented.

"Thanks." Daniel replied. He then saw Sean and Tracey run up to him.

"Man, you better get in there Daniel." Sean said, panting.

Tracey nodded, catching his breath. "Yeah, we tried stopping them, but they said they're just practicing." He rolled his eyes.

Concerned about what was going on in his house, Daniel's eyes widened. "What? What's goin' on?" He asked.

"Well, how much does your dad like that baseball signed by Derek Jeter?" Sean asked him.

"Oh shit!" He yelled, then raced into the house to find a couple of the guys from the baseball team tossing around his dad's signed baseball.

"C'mon, let's dance!" Sam said, pulling on Bradin's hands, leading him to where everyone else was dancing.

Bradin tried to get out of her grasp, but couldn't. "Well, you two are coming too!" He said, pulling on Lucas, who took Krystal's hand.

Sean and Tracey looked at each other. "What about us?" He said aloud.

Tracey saw two girls standing on the side and winked at his brother. "You ladies care to dance?" He asked, Sean stepping out to the side of him, smiling. The girls smiled and agreed to dance with them.

They all danced to 3 songs when Lucas saw Avery walking out into the patio.

"Hey man, check it out." Lucas said to Bradin, who clearly saw Avery walk in.

Daniel walked up to Avery. "Hey man, you weren't invited." He said plainly.

Avery looked at Daniel and smirked. "Daniel, Dan, Danny boy," He said, putting his arm on Daniel's shoulder and walking into the patio. "You know I'm a senior, and as a senior I feel it's my right to go to all the parties that go on with our school. And as a senior," He said, walking up to Sam and Bradin. "I feel I should also get what I want." He looked at Sam seductively, grinning.

"What do you want?" Sam said angrily, in particular mood to humor Avery.

Still grinning, he answered, "You know exactly what I want."

"Why don't you just leave man." Bradin said, taking a step towards Avery.

"Why don't you just back off." Avery replied, looking at Bradin.

"Why don't you make me." Bradin started for Avery but was held back by Sam. By this time everyone was watching them, and the music had stopped.

Sam put her hand on Bradin's chest, pushing him away from Avery. "Bradin, don't." She said to him. She turned around and glared at Avery. "What are you doing here?" She asked, her anger rising.

Avery smiled. "I thought we could have a few dances you know." He said, taking Sam's hand.

She quickly pulled her hand back and shook her head. "No Avery, stop it! I'm not playin' anymore!" She said, her voice rising.

"Oh come on Sam, just leave Bradin, and come with me!" He said loudly. Bradin tried to jump at Avery but Lucas held him back. Bradin's eyes narrowed and his ears flamed with heat.

"Why the hell would you think I'd go with you?" She asked, almost laughing.

"Because I'm so much better than he is." He said, gesturing to Bradin who's temperature was rising. Avery lowered his voice, putting on a sweet smile. "C'mon, take off that necklace, and put this one on." He said to Sam. He pulled out a box from his pocket and opened it. It was the same rose necklace he tried to give Sam for Christmas. "I never gave it to anyone else. I wanted you to have it." He said, as the crowd around them stood there in awe.

"Whoa." Sean said, looking at the necklace Avery was holding.

"I can't believe you thought I'd still take that from you." Sam said, disgusted.

Avery narrowed his eyes. "What is it that keeps you from hooking up with me, huh?" Avery asked, the anger in him finally coming out. "I mean what the hell does he have that I don't?"

"For one, he doesn't look at me as some sort of prize." Sam yelled at him. "You expect me to respect you when you keep trying to win me over from someone? I'm not stupid."

Avery scoffed. "Why do you like this guy anyway? He's all messed up. His grades were down, he was kicked off the surf team for doing drugs, and he already had sex with how many girls!" Avery yelled. Everyone went silent, not knowing what to say or do. Lucas let go of Bradin, then Bradin took a step towards Avery.

"What did you say?" He asked, his voice sounding very rough.

Avery stared Bradin in the eyes. "You heard what I said. You're nothing Bradin, nothing. You can't get good grades in school, you had a drug problem, and you've already been with what, two, three girls. You think you can change the way you are, do you? No, you can't, 'cause you're already messed up. Once you start, you can't go back." Avery said coldly. Bradin's face grew red with anger and hurt. His eyes began to tear, and Avery could see it.

"You think you're so cool now, just 'cause you have Sam as your girlfriend, you're grades are decent, and you're back on the surf team. You're still the same Bradin you were when you first came to Playa Linda. A loser, and that's all you will be."

Bradin looked up at Avery, wanting to hit him so hard he'd be knocked out for the whole night. But all he could do was stand there, staring at him. He felt someone touch his arm. It was Sam.

"Bradin." She said softly, still no one said anything, it was silent.

Bradin stood there for a few more seconds, shaking his head, telling himself he wouldn't hit Avery. Instead, he turned around and stormed out of the patio, heading towards the staircase that led to the beach.

"Bradin." Sam said again, trying to catch hold of his hand, but Bradin shook her off. Everyone watched Bradin leave, hearing him walk down the stairs. They turned back to Avery who was laughing.

"Ah man, such a cry baby." He said, then looked at Sam. "C'mon, let's go someplace." He said, stroking her cheek, making her turn around.

With so much hurt and anger, she did something she'd been wanting to do for so long. She grabbed the hand touching her cheek and twisted it around his back, making him moan with pain. Everyone backed away from her as she did this.

"Ow! My, my arm!" He barely got out. Sam had kicked the back of his legs, making him kneel on the floor. She was also holding his neck, pinching the right area that let the air flow from his lungs.

"If you ever come near Bradin or me again," She said fiercely, squeezing his hand. "I swear, I will hurt you." She said as Avery gasped for air. "Next time, I'll break it." She said into his ear. Then she shoved him into the floor, making everyone move away from him as he fell. She looked up to the staircase, then walked over Avery, leaving him lying on the floor, grabbing his neck. Sam quickly left the patio, and ran down the stairs, only hoping to catch up with Bradin before it was too late.


	29. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Sam rushed down the stairs, skipping every other step. She got to the bottom of the stair case and frantically looked both ways, trying to find Bradin. She finally saw him about 4 houses down from Daniels and immediately started to run after him.

"Bradin!" She yelled, catching up to him. "Bradin stop!" She screamed, Bradin ignored her and kept walking. "Bradin, stop!" She said again, reaching his side.

Bradin shook his head several times, not looking at Sam. "No Sam, he's right." He said, a mixture of both anger and hurt in his voice.

"What?" Sam asked, trying to make Bradin stop walking.

"I mean Avery, Avery's right Sam. You're better off with him." He said, still looking forward.

Sam stopped, pulling Bradin's arm, making him stop. "What did you just say?" She asked sternly. "Did you just say I should be with Avery?"

Bradin sighed. "Sam," He said, finally looking at her. "He's right okay. I'm just a loser, like he said."

Sam stared at Bradin, not believing anything he was saying. "Bradin, no you're not."

Bradin shook his head. "Yes I am Sam. Look, Avery's right about everything. My grades, the only reason why I'm doing good is because you've been helping me. I did have that drug problem, I ended up in the hospital. And I already slept with…all those girls already." He said, Sam shaking her head profusely. "You deserve better." He turned away and began walking away from Sam.

"Bradin, I can't believe you think Avery is better than you." She said, rushing after him. "Because he's not!" She said loudly so he could hear her.

"Sam, just go back to the party." Bradin said over her shoulder, still walking away.

"No, no, Bradin. Bradin! Will you just listen to me!" She yelled, grabbing his hand, making him stop walking. He turned to look at her and he could see that she was just as hurt as he was.

"Bradin, I don't want to go out with Avery. I never will." She told him. "I don't want to be with anyone else Bradin." She said, trying to calm herself down.

"Well you should, because you deserve better than me." He told her, looking away.

Sam shook her head. "What are you talking about?" She asked.

Bradin let out a deep breath and turned to Sam. "You are smart, you get along with everyone, you're athletic, and you're beautiful." He told her, looking deeply into her eyes. "You deserve someone just as good as you are. And I'm not that person." He said, tears coming to his eyes.

"Bradin, how could you say that about yourself?" Sam replied.

"Because Sam, it's true!" He shouted, feeling the tears run down his face. "You're perfect, okay. You're the best thing that's happened to me, and couldn't ask for anyone better. But me, I'm…" He wiped his cheeks. "I've done so many stupid things, I can't take those things back. I've screwed up." He looked out to the ocean. "That's why you deserve someone else."

"I don't want anyone else!" Sam yelled. "I want you." She said, taking both of Bradin's hands, tears falling from her eyes. "Bradin, I could care less about Avery, or any other guy. I couldn't care if they were the most popular guy in school, if they were getting straight A's. Or if they were on every sports team in school, or they were the richest person in the world. I don't care about that stuff."

Sam touched Bradin's cheek, making him turn his face. "Right now, all I care about is you. I don't want to be with anyone but you. No one else can steal my heart except you." She said, making them both smile. "I love you, and that's all that matters."

Bradin smiled, looking at Sam. "I love you too Sam." He said. Sam wrapper her arms around his neck, and Bradin put his arms around her waist, and they stood there hugging each other, tears still flowing down their faces.

"I just don't want to lose you." Bradin said.

Sam smiled. "Don't worry, you never will."

Bradin put his chin on the top of her head. "Good." He closed his eyes, realizing how close he came to losing Sam.

By lunch on Monday, the word got around about what happened at Daniel's party, with a few mixed up minor details. Whenever Sam or Bradin saw Avery, they couldn't help but shoot glares at him. When Sam passed him after first period, she stared at him, not saying anything. And he didn't dare say anything back. At lunch, Sam saw red marks on Avery's arm and neck where she grabbed him.

At practice, Coach Bedolla noticed the boys going up to Bradin and talking to him, it seemed as though they were giving him their condolences about something.

"Bradin." Coach Bedolla called to him.

"Yeah Coach?" Bradin asked, walking over to his tent.

Coach Bedolla took off his sunglasses and looked at Bradin. "Somethin' happen this weekend, it seems everyone's talkin' to you about somethin?"

Bradin sighed. "Yeah, somethin' did happen."

Coach Bedolla narrowed his eyes. "Between you and some boy? Or you and Sam?"

"Both actually." He said, Coach Bedolla's eyes grew. "But it's okay. Everything's fine." He told him. "I promise."

Coach Bedolla grunted. "Well it better be. I don't want you messin' up, not now. Remember, we still got that meet next week, so I wanna see you hustle twice as hard, you got that?" He asked, but made it sound more like an order.


End file.
